This is a very good and complete small board game of Travelling Marble Solitaire, which we date to the early 20th Century with most of the marbles being earlier, back to the 19th Century.
The circular turned board is very attractive being made of a burr wood, possibly Maple, with a gallery to the outer perimeter. The board has 32 equi-spaced holes with an additional hole to the centre. It comes complete with a full set of 33 (32 plus one spare) early handmade playing marbles, which have a cloth carrying bag to store them in. Early marbles are very collectable in their own right and the marbles in this set are nominally spherical of 0.5 inches diameter. The marbles are made from a mixture of colors and materials including ceramic, stone, pottery and clay (earthenware). Popular in the court of Louis the XIV, the game was supposedly invented by a nobleman incarcerated in the Bastille in France during the 17th century and was popular in the court of Louis XIV. It is a challenging game for the fan of strategy and skill and became one of the more popular games of the last few hundred years. To play, place all 32 marbles with one hole left unoccupied in the middle of the board. The objective is simply to remove all but one of the marbles by jumping one marble over another, similar to the game of Draughts. The marble jumped is removed to the gallery around the side of the board.
The small size of this game makes it perfect to take on your travels and can be played by young and old alike. We date the board to circa 1920 or the early years of the 20th century with the marbles being a mixture, most probably dating back to the mid 19th century. Overall a great gift item.
Dimensions:
Height: 0.8 in (2.04 cm)Diameter: 6.75 in (17.15 cm)
Condition:
Good. Some of the marbles have varying wear and are slightly non-spherical through natural wear and use. The base of the board has some wear from use.