Extendable dining table — Louis XV style, France, circa 1890. Featuring a stunning sunburst marquetry top and elegant cabriole legs, this table expands from a round shape to accommodate up to twelve guests. A rare and functional piece perfect for elegant entertaining. 650,00 €
You’re now subscribed to price tracking for this product. We’ll notify you if the price drops. 
Extendable Dining Table with Sunburst Inlay and Cabriole Legs — Louis XV, France, c. 1890. (6338)
Height 74.5 cm Width 100.5 cm Color BronzeGoldBrown
Description
DESCRIPTION IN
📐 DIMENSIONS
Height 74.5 cm × top diameter 100.5 cm (round). Extendable with three leaves to maximum 195 cm × 100.5 cm.
―――――――――――――――――――――
Extendable Dining Table with Sunburst Parquetry Top — Louis XV Revival / Belle Époque, France or Belgium, circa 1880–1910.
―――――――――――――――――――――
🏛️ PERIOD, ARTISTIC STYLE, ERA
This table belongs to the most beloved dining room genre of the Belle Époque — the round extendable table on cabriole legs, which dominated and Belgian cabinetmaking from the 1880s to the First World War. It is neither Baroque theatricality nor the weight of Historicism — it is something third and in its own way deeper: the joie de vivre of the Louis XV style, translated by late 19th-century cabinetmakers with a new artisanal virtuosity.
The table top is this object’s visual culmination. The sunburst parquetry — in which veneered segments radiate from a central point like rays of the sun — is one of the most demanding placage techniques, used by Parisian and Brussels high-grade workshops as the ultimate demonstration of mastery. Each ray is precisely cut and aligned so that the wood grain forms a continuous rhythmic pattern across the entire surface. The serpentine outline — with its gentle rocaille curves and corner accents — and the four cabriole legs with scroll feet are a pure Louis XV Revival manifesto.
Belle Époque — the “Beautiful Era” from 1871 to 1914 — was a period when Paris ate extraordinarily well and extraordinarily elegantly. In the early 1890s, chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer Auguste Escoffier, working at the Ritz in Paris, was revolutionising haute cuisine — and it was around exactly such extendable tables that Parisian haute bourgeoisie gathered to enjoy it. The table expanded as guests arrived — precisely as this one does, with its three leaves.
―――――――――――――――――――――
⚜️ MAKER AND PROVENANCE
No maker’s mark is visible. The quality of the sunburst placage execution, the serpentine edge with its precise moulded profile, and the proportionality of the cabriole legs point to or Belgian high-grade cabinetmaking — those workshops supplying haute bourgeoisie dining rooms and provincial aristocracy. The three-leaf extension mechanism with a metal hook securing system (visible in the underside photograph) is a technically considered construction characteristic of manufacture, ensuring stability even at full extension.
―――――――――――――――――――――
💎 RARITY AND SIGNIFICANCE
Extendable round tables with a sunburst placage top, serpentine outline, and three extension leaves are comparatively rare — the majority of Belle Époque extendable tables were oval or rectangular. The round form with extension capability to 195 cm is an exceptionally functional solution, highly valued by contemporary buyers: the table can seat six guests in round form and twelve or more at full extension.
―――――――――――――――――――――
🕯️ USE IN INTERIORS, DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY
The table is ideal as the primary dining room piece in any interior from a classical Louis XV-inspired salon to a contemporary eclectic living space. The round form without extension is intimate and domestically warm — at full extension it becomes a full-scale banquet table. In photography, the sunburst pattern creates a hypnotic effect — this is one of those tables that reads almost as an art object in photography. Interior stylists use this type both in editorial shoots and as the principal accent in themed interiors.
―――――――――――――――――――――
🎁 AS A GIFT
This table is a refined gift for a new home, for the restoration of a period interior, or for a family that values meals gathered around a beautiful table. Significant enough as a corporate gift for a private individual with a defined aesthetic sensibility.
―――――――――――――――――――――
🔍 CONDITION
Good antique condition. Table top sunburst placage with age-related wear — minor surface scratches and slight tonal variations in places. Serpentine edge and frieze without significant damage. Legs stable; scroll feet without deformation. Extension mechanism with metal hook system functional — all three leaves survive. Reverse sides of extension leaves show age-appropriate use marks. The condition of the piece is fully documented in the photographs.
