Tuesday 29 November 2016

whist,dominoes,dice

The Transport Board’s daily allowance seems to have been on the meagre side and many of the prisoners supplemented their incomes by giving lessons in French, fencing or drawing. Others seem to have made for sale tobacco boxes, sets of dominoes and bobbins used in making lace. 
Some may have built model ships of the type made from bone and rigged with human hair which are associated with French prisoners – one occasionally appears at auction houses. Whether to supplement their diet, or to satisfy French gastronomic taste, prisoners were frequently seen gathering snails, much to the amazement of the locals.
The prisoners of war made all kind of things .
Games like whist , dominoes or  dices were made of bones  




Dating the introduction of dominoes to Europe can be dated in the early 18th Century. 
The game was first found in Italy and then made it’s way to France. Due to the Napoleonic wars French prisoners of war introduced the game to England by the late 18th Century. 
Modern dice games like craps appear to pre date dominoes with evidence of use in the 17th Century in Europe.
Early dominoes were traditionally carved from ivory or bone. The design appears to have been modeled after dice, which pre-dated modern dominoes.





Whist Box Georgian Gaming Token Box Tiny English Circa 1800 - 1810.

this extremely sweet and extremely minuscule gaming token box from the very start of the nineteenth century. English in origin, George III period bone box was once intended to hold four circular bone gaming counters for the card game called Whist.

Whist is an ancient game that had its roots sometime in the 16th century when it was then called Ruff and Honours. The Georgian's were great gamblers and this ancient game was revived and extremely popular during the 18th and 19th century; it has since been superseded in popularity by the card game called Bridge.

Measuring a teeny 1 2/8" diameter by 0.5".

The top is deliciously turned with typical Georgian care and skill. The central circular cartouche hand painted with the word WHIST being bordered by polychrome painted flowers. The raised concentric circle edges having a delicately executed green leaf border. The base is equally decorative with recessed circular patterning. One unscrews the lid to reveal the empty, plain interior. This little box has bucket fulls of natural patina where it has been handled over the centuries - we guarantee that you will adore it.

Condition is very good for a 200 year old treasure. There is but minimal rubbing to the lid lettering. This delight is free of cracks with only the smallest area of slight roughness to the screw edge on the interior, mentioned for complete accuracy.

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