This is a very good and complete board game of Marble Solitaire, with a hand turned hardwood board and 35 agate stone and clay marbles, which we date to the late Art Deco period of the 20th Century, Circa 1930.
 
The circular turned board is very attractive being made of a burr wood, possibly walnut, 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 35 (32 plus three spare) handmade mixed stone playing marbles, mostly agate stone with some clay marbles.
 
The marbles in this set are nominally spherical of ~ 0.5 inches diameter. The marbles have a mixture of shades & colors and are made from a mix of stones. 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 fairly 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 piece to circa 1930.
 
Overall a great gift item for display or play.
Dimensions: 
Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 6.8 in (17.28 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 and some of the hand drilled marble holes are slightly off centre .