crashbelt

Here's one of my rarer boards - the Jaques Royal Garrison Game (a variation of German Tactics) dating to around 1860s. I got the 12" mahogany board without any marbles but found a picture of an original one with what looked like micas. I had just enough spare micas to fill it in the correct configuration.

Great Josephs Coats Chad - love the light green colour. They must have been producing vast numbers of marbles in Thuringen in the later period, for the pontils to be finished so hastily. And the game board makers like Jaques and Ayres must have been happy with the finishing, as they met the later-Victorian rising demand. I have a theory that the finest quality turned boards were made in the earlier period too.

Here's one of my favourite sets - 11/16" Josephs Coats. Ground pontils so later period marbles - all my Josephs are later period so I wonder if its a style of Germans that wasn't produced much in the early faceted -pontil period. I'm sure someone will correct me if my hunch is wrong!! The marbles aren't original to the board which is beautifully made and presumably earlier. I bought the marbles loose a long time ago and matched them with the best quality spare board I had as they're such an attractive group.

Great find. The onions and indians are perfect for an old solitaire board. Here's an original one with an almost identical set of marbles to a group of yours.

Just love those micas Chad. Wow - huge gooseberry!

Great Bennies and divided core. Not so sure about that weird clay job!! All part of the fun of collecting!!

I dont buy a lot these days but couldn't resist these Amber micas a hair under 7/8". Good condition faceted pontils at a very good UK Ebay Buy it Now price.

It's very run down inside from what I remember from when it was a rehearsal space for bands. Could be some interesting stuff in there if someone got permission to go in with a shovel!!

I visited the Stoke Newington area of London yesterday. Couldn't resist taking pics of the Ilex Works factory where Mr Turner made your great board (with marbles imported from Thuringen of course). The building is not in great shape though!

As a postscript, I did see the 9 hole Jaques set sold at Block's auction. I hope the buyer ($1,100 plus fees!) realised that they were buying a set with incorrect marbles! The auctioneer surely will have known this and it was disappointing that it was not mentioned in the item description!! Sorry I get a bit grumpy about these things😒!! Here's my real original sets to round off my comments in this thread😊

Hi Chad prompted me to take a look so here goes! Here's a close up of some number 1s from my boards. Both coincidentally posted on Thuringen Thursdays recently if you want to see them. Mine are from the Jaques Numerical Puzzle (aka Magic Number Squares) 9 and 16 hole games. The one Block sold is the 9 hole version but with an incorrect set of numbers which should be consecutive of course! These Board were stamped with a Registration mark dating 1857/8 to protect copywrite. They feature in the listing of a high end London games retailer in 1867-70. So that gives a good idea of their production era. The numbers on the Jaques boards are clearly handpainted glazed chinas. The figure 1 on your example appears to me to be a later style font and maybe not handpainted. I'm out of my depth here so that's just hunches! You'll see I've shown the back of one of them. The glazing was left to dry on small 3 point trivets - hence the three bare spots on the back which mine all have. Yours does not have that which also makes me think later than those on the Jaques boards. I've seen a handful of complete Jaques sets, but never a set by another maker - maybe Jaques copywrite registration worked? I have seen other individual numbered chinas and even one made of bone or ivory but never on a board. Hope this helps a bit!!!

That's a beaut - big mica flakes too!

I posted the smaller version of Jaques' Numerical Puzzle recently, with 9 numbered glazed china marbles. So here's the 16 hole version. Same stamp on the base dating it to 1850s/60s. I'm very lucky to have collected complete examples of both versions. - these are really museum pieces!! I'd be interested if other collectors own, or have seen, these in the US. I seem to recall the late Bert Cohen having a set.

Yep they're quite rare - I only have the two 11/16" powder blues on the Chad Valley set and one 9/16" on another set. I'm lucky that the Chad Valley set has white, yellow, green, orange, red, light and dark blue mibs. I saw a lilac coloured on for sale once - wish I'd bid higher, only one I ever saw.

Well you got me going this time Chad. The Ilex Works in the Stoke Newington area of London was built for the manufacture of a huge variety of board games sold by R Turner - latest reference I find is 1947. Here's a picture of the building, with words carved into the stone lintel above the entrance saying "Ilex Works 1900" - so that's the earliest possible date for your board. I have 3 boards with Ilex Works origins - 2 roughly made boards with poor quality clearies and a much later bakelite board with bakelite marbles. So early 20th Century for your board - my guess 1900-1914 when German production of handmades was disrupted if not curtailed by the 1st WW. The clear glass simple designs of your single coloured solid core mibs (I've seen referred to as candle cores) with rough ground pontils also points to later period. But this is the first time I've been able to dates these to 20th Century which is quite exciting. They are quite common. Here's a set I have with many candle cores - also on a quite crude board and sold by manufacturer Chad Valley (I have the box) from Harborne near Birmingham. Interesting because it shows that the marble makers in Thuringen exported to more than one British games board maker. Finally, the spooky thing is that I know and have been inside the Ilex Works building!!! About 15 years ago it was used as a rehearsal space for bands (my other hobby) and I played in there a couple of times. It was very run down and I don't know what happened since - I'll see next time I'm down that way. Long answer Chad but you did ask!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought maybe a red white and blue theme to mark our royal ceremony on Monday.

Sensational marble Chad!!

One of my best and rarest boards - the Numerical Puzzle by John Jaques featuring a set of numbered glazed chinas. The Registration stamp on the base which protected the design, dates to 1858 - the game also featured in the brochure of a high end London games retailer in 1867. Jaques was making games from the late 1700s and is still trading! Probably the top maker of solitaire and other games boards in the Victorian era. I have 7 definite and 7 probable Jaques sets in my collection. Sadly their archive was destroyed in an air raid in 1941. Interestingly the number 7 is the British form without the German cross-bar. Presumably Jaques specified that to the marble makers in Thüringen! Strangely this is the only board I've ever bought from a German seller. Go figure!!

Thanks to Chad and Jeff for this week's amazing contributions!! Thursday is turning into a serious Thuringen study area🤔. I just missed out in an eBay auction for a board of Gutta Perchas years ago. Never seen another since and I'm still annoyed with myself for not going higher🙄

Here a some Josephs off one of my boards (well the bottom right isn't from the set but I like a symmetrical pic😂). They are quite crudely made and finished compared to the early period onions I put up recently, but I like them. Guess they would be (incorrectly) called English colours.

Dave those Bennie's look 👽!!! Cool. Love the custards and carmels Chad they're pretty rare. My UK board collector buddy Tom snagged a complete board with custards. I'd go the extra $$ mile for one of those!!

Here's 12 of the 5/8" onions from one of my favourite boards. All wet mint faceted pontils. They're pictured from above the poles to try to show the different numbers of panels. There's single colour, 2, 3, 4 and 6 panel examples. It always strikes me how skilled the workers were over 150 years ago and the care they took over these things in the early years, even for these small marbles.

There's something special about those Josephs - great examples Chad.

Thursday again! Here's a little 6" board with 14-15mm banded transparent swirls. Ground pontils and I have a feeling it might even be early 20th Century. An unremarkable set which I find rather attractive anyway!!

Good grief what an inheritance!! I don't know anything about machine-mades. But some of the German handmades may be pretty valuable! I can't easily distinguish from pictures whether a number are original handmades or are contemporaries, or whether some have been polished or buffed. It would be worth sitting down with an expert on handmades to get some advice from an in-hand inspection. Have fun with this astounding collection.