In the collection of the Kótlas Museum, along with other antique furniture, is this carved wooden table with a glass top, designed for playing cards — in short, a card table. In Russia, these ‘l’ombre tables’ appeared around the middle of the 18th century, along with the card game of the same name, and soon went out of fashion when l’ombre was supplanted by whist and preferénce.

This table was made by cabinetmakers from the town of Kadnikov, in the Sókolsky District of Vológda Region — a place where the art of woodworking was very developed. Its style reflects the eclecticism of the last quarter of the 19th century. The underframe is carved, reminiscent of the architecture of the Renaissance: eaves, semicircular arches, and the legs reminiscent of Corinthian columns.

The table attracts attention with its bright paint work on the table top, and with the carved details of its curved legs. The table top is made of wood; it is square in shape and covered with glass on top, under which there is a ‘batik’ - a silk fabric painted by hand. It depicts an armful of wildflowers on a yellow background of silk, ringed with a transparent weightless ribbon: poppies, cornflowers, spikelets, forget-me-nots, daffodils, wasps, a grasshopper and a butterfly are depicted.

The signature, placed under the image of the bouquet, testifies to the authorship of the artist: August Tomáshka. Tomáshka was a Moscow artist-decorator of Czech origin who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and worked in the decoration of Russian estates. The batik under the glass is bordered by the edges of the table, which are raised and carved, so the tabletop resembles a picture in a frame. The underframe and the wooden frame of the table top are finished in dark brown paint.

The table belonged to the Chetverúkhin merchants of the first guild of Kádnikov. Chetverúkhin’s grandson, Ivan Flyagin, married a school teacher, Nadezhda Póstnikova, after which they lived in the Chetverúkhins’ house, which by that time had been inherited by Flyágin. After Ivan’s death, his widow Nadezhda, together with her sister Elena (also a schoolteacher) moved to another house. The Chetverúkhins' house was sold, but the furniture remained with the sisters. They bequeathed their property to Nikolai Dedushénko, a music teacher, watchmaker and tuner of musical instruments, who worked with them at school. Nikolay brought some of the old furniture to Kótlas and gifted it to the local history museum.