The pattern printed on this model is an image of the engraving taken from the Treatise on the Royal Game of Tennis published by Charles Hulpeau in Paris in 1632, which notably includes the rules and values of this ancestral sport.

We see four players competing in doubles, each using a racket to hit a ball called an "éteuf". Jeu de paume (or real tennis) was played bare-handed or with leather gloves from the 13th century before the use of the racket appeared around 1505.

Highly popular with the French nobility, this sport enjoyed its golden age between the 15th and 17th centuries before gradually being abandoned during the 18th century.

While it is still practiced today in countries like England, the United States, Australia, and France, jeu de paume is primarily recognized as the ancestor of racket sports and Basque pelota.
Its most direct descendant is undoubtedly tennis, which, among other things, borrowed the numbers 15, 30, and 40 for point scoring, referring to the number of feet the winning player of the previous point could move closer to the net to serve.

"Tomber à pic" (to come at the right time), "épater la galerie" (to impress the crowd), "rester sur le carreau" (to be left by the wayside) are, among many others, expressions inherited from jeu de paume in the French language, to the delight of writers and lovers of clever words.