Cabaret table with Chinese lacquer top, Provence 18th century

Extremely rare table "à cabaret" in solid walnut topped by its precious top in vermilion red lacquer from China.
Made in the purest Provencal style, the table rests on four legs with deer hooves, it is curved in crossbow on these four sides and finely carved with a floral decoration decreased in the mass.
It opens with a large side drawer.
The walnut top is surrounded by a thick molding where the luxurious lacquer top fits perfectly.
The wooden and papier-mâché top is covered with vermilion red lacquer and a subtle gold decoration, representing rocks, bamboos, and birds in a lake landscape.

Very good condition, restoration to the decoration of the tray.

Provencal work from the end of the 18th century for the walnut table.

Chinese work of the 18th century for the export in Europe for the lacquered tray.

Provenance : Bastide of Marseille since the beginning of the 19th century.

Dimensions :

Height : 72,5 cm ; Width : 86 cm ; Depth : 56 cm

Our opinion:

The cabaret table that we present is of the greatest rarity because it has kept its original lacquer top.
If we can see such tables on the paintings of the great portraitists of the old regime, it is extremely rare nowadays to discover such a set.
It is important to specify that the table was made as a base to receive perfectly this luxurious tray, and not the opposite.
Indeed, these pieces covered with lacquer were imported from the East and sold by mercantile merchants at astronomical prices and therefore reserved exclusively for an elite of society.
The model we present is a moving testimony of this fashion and allows us to better imagine the refinement of the salons of the Provencal nobility in the 18th century.