Mechanical Table with Sèvres Porcelain Plaques

Created by French furniture maker Martin Carlin, this small Mechanical Table with Sèvres Porcelain Plaques was designed for use in the private apartment of a fashionable lady. It illustrates the French fascination with mechanical devices during the second half of the eighteenth century. Brass supports hidden inside the upper portion of each of the legs allow the tabletop to be raised an additional fifteen inches. The top also pivots and tilts to become a book rest. Small supports extend from each side of the top to hold candle stands. Such adjustability and the table's small size make a useful portable writing table or a stand for the eighteenth-century practice of reading while standing.