Article: 011641

Country: United Kingdom

Manufacturer: Maker unknown.

Box with sliding lid for dominoes. Bone, carved, on wood. 220x87x35 mm (box), circa 28x19 mm (dominoes). Circa 1810.
Lit.: Comp. Kaplan coll. [Christie’s, 2006] 207-209.
The carved bone work is glued and nailed to the wooden body, it is alternately backed with green paper resp. copper or gilded copper foil. In the box is a complete 9-pips dominoes (55 pieces), plus a teetotum and a dice. Such boxes were often made by French prisoners in British jails during the Napoleonic wars to improve their rations and relieve boredom. The prisoners were housed in buildings, for example, barracks, but also on so-called pontoons, discarded ships, which is why these items are often called pontoon works.
Several missing parts.

$ 622.62