crashbelt

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.

Great size and colour combination.

Continuing the clear micas theme heres my 3 examples together. The smaller one is a 10" board with 18-20mm marbles. The other 2 are 12" boards with 20-22mm and 23-24mm marbles. All the marbles are faceted and the boards well made - so all from the early period. The 23-24mm marbles are not original to the board - the other 2 sets most likely are.

Thanks Jeff - the Running Rabbit article is a good rule of thumb for dating solitaire handmade marbles and boards. I printed it off years ago - must dig it out! I use a detailed article by Richard Ballam, UK top expert on all Victorian board games, which is excellent for dating boards and identifying makers, but not much on the imported German marbles. I'm surprised that no-one has produced a book on Victorian solitaire sets as they are incredibly photogenic and important in the history of handmade marbles. Ideally a games historian from the UK where the biggest market was and most of the turned boards were made by firms like Jaques and Ayres, including the rarer non-solitaire types. I've bought or handled 100s of sets over 30+ years collecting and together with my friend and fellow board collector Tom H, have a pretty good idea (never 100% sure of course) which sets of marbles are original to the boards. My collection is catalogued in detail, including my estimation of originality or not. I try to say in my posts here if I believe sets to be original. I bought the large clear micas I just posted, without a board. The beautiful 12" board, I put the clear micas on, in fact came with 5 badly damaged 1" onionskin micas - it must have been an incredible early example. So the set I posted is not original although it looks like it could have been! I think that around three quarters of my sets are original - a high success rate largely down to me collecting and keeping the best examples over the years. Sorry for digressing a bit everyone - Jeff got me thinking!!

You have great Josephs and Onions Chad - probably my favourite handmades!

Here's a nice big 12" board with faceted 23-24mm clear micas. Clear micas are more attractive than I'm able to show with my lack of photographic/lighting skills!!

Here's a 9 hole Jaques Numerical Puzzle board with some one inch swirls.

Yellow glass strands and lutz are made for each other......................

Here's three same cane solid cores. Nothing unusual but nice one inch size.

This Thursday I'm sharing my happiness at finishing off my last incomplete board. I bought this board with 31 x 17-20mm faceted clear micas a long time ago. Block's recent auction had three exactly matching micas which I bought and am delighted with the result. Having added two of the micas to make it up to 33 mibs, I literally now can't tell which are the newcomers!!! Happy days!!!!!