This is the best of the nine canvases by Boilly in the museum. The artist depicted people playing cannon: there are only three balls on a billiard table without pockets, one red and two white. This is a Paris billiard hall at the time of the First Empire. Such halls became a kind of a club, where people could gather for amusement, to share information and exchange opinions. The fact that women could play equally with men revealed that important social changes were taking place. Combining the characters of the scene into groups, Boilly emphasizes the grace of their poses and gestures and creates an almost theatrical composition which reflects the austerity of the dominant Neo-Classical style.