The hot-water bottle table: definition

The bouillotte table takes its name from the game of "bouillotte", a version of poker that was very popular during the reign of Louis XVI. The game was played on a small round table or pedestal table with a marble top.

 

The history of the hot-water bottle table

The bouillotte is a circular game table with a white marble top. A felt-covered stopper can be inserted to play cards. Models from the late 18th century are still the best-known. This circular table, worked in different types of wood, opens at the top with drawers and sometimes pulls. It rests on four fluted or veneered tapered legs, sometimes with a crotch shelf. Bouillotte tables of the period were all fitted with tonneau-style castors.

The table bouillotte is also known as the guéridon de bouillotte. It crossed all styles and, long after Louis XVI, was found in the interiors of high-ranking civil servants and the 19th-century bourgeoisie, often adorned with small objects.

 

Rare Louis XVI-style table bouillotte with wood marquetry decoration and original stopper, circa 1880

 

The hot-water bottle

Did you know? A lighting fixture also owes its name to this famous game of Louis XVI: the lampe bouillotte. To illuminate the players gathered around the marble-topped pedestal table, a gilded bronze lamp with an adjustable tin shade was placed on the table. This luminaire, known as the "bouillote lamp", was a great success, and was later used as a desk or bedside lamp.