An "Imperial" Billiard Table
This fine billiard table, which has been specially manufactured by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, Ltd., to represent the far-reaching influence and vastness of the British Empire, is considered to be the finest specimen of craftsmanship that has yet been applied to the construction of a billiard table.
On the cushion rail is carved thistle and shamrock foliage, entwined on a scrolled strapwork band, having double Tudor roses at intervals in the centre. On the panelled sides of the table, between the thistle and shamrock, a series or heraldic emblems are interwoven with foliage typical of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and her colonies.
In the centre of the British end of the table is the royal trophy surmounted by the royal crown and flanked by the national standard. On the left are the arms of London and Dublin, and on the right those of Edinburgh and Wales.
Rose, thistle, shamrock, and leek foliation, engrafted on flowing scrolls, wreathe the four emblematic shields and central trophy.
In the panels of the angle shaft the lion and the unicorn support the armorial bearings, which are carved in the framed panelling on each side of the table. The inscription on the ribbon entwining the lion and unicorn gives the dates 1837 and 1901, commemorating the reign of the late Queen Victoria and the accession of his imperial majesty Edward VII., and his consort.
On the sides of the angle shafts, underneath the framing, empanelled escutcheons bear devices of the Tudor rose and royal crown.
In the central panel of the framing to the right of the British end, shields bear the arms of Gibraltar, West Africa, and Malta. On the panel to the left of the centre are those of New Zealand, Australia, and Queensland, and on the right panel those of Cape Colony, Mauritius, and Ceylon.
On the left central shaft is a sculptured niche representing St. George of England with the dragon. On the right side of the shaft, under the frame panelling, are the English arms on a shield empanelled; whilst on the left side of the shaft is the Tudor rose. The right central shaft is filled by St. Andrew of Scotland with his diagonal cross and bible.
On the side of the shaft to the right is the Scottish lion rampant, charged on a shield, whilst the left-hand side panel bears the holly-thistle similarly mounted.
The heraldic design at the end of the table next in sequence, symbolizes the imperial Indian empire. Centrally is a trophy of the Star of India, with the motto: "Heaven's Light our Guide," surmounted by the imperial crown, and supported by the royal standards.
On the left of the trophy is a shield charged with the order of the Empress of India. On another shield on the right is borne the order of the Indian empire, whilst on the extreme left and right, next the angle shafts, are the Indian elephant and the Brahma bull. Scrolls of the stems, leaves and flowers of the sacred lotus enwreathe the composition.
In the middle panel of the remaining side of the table, to the left of the Indian end are the arms of Jamaica, Newfoundland, and Barbadoes. The left wing panel contains the armorial bearings of Hong Kong, Natal, and Rhodesia, connected by lettered ribbons amid scrolls of oak and acorn foliage; and on the right wing panel are escutcheons filled by the heraldic emblems peculiar to Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Manitoba.
St. Patrick of Ireland, with his crozier bruising the serpent's head, fills the moulded niche in the left-hand central shaft The Irish harp and the shamrock occupy the inner shaft-panels. The niche in the shaft to the right of the centre is held by the figure of St. David of Wales bearing his harp, supported by lions, "passant gardant," and with the badge of the Welsh leek.
The price of the table is, we understand, 500 guineas.