American Game Boards

19th Chinese checkers game board with original paint form Pennsylvania. beautiful colors and patina.

19Thc Original mustard painted on a black painted base trimmed in red pin striped.The condition is very good and a undisturbed surface.

This 19th-century American folk art game board is a quintessential example of the ingenuity and aesthetic appeal found in traditional American crafts. Composed of alternating walnut ...

Very early American wooden games board; probably the oldest I have handled, this dates to about circa 1835 and exhibits the markings of a typical cottage industry type manufacture (not unlike very early Noah's Arks). Obviously entirely hand crafted; measurements are not exactly square (left to right; top to bottom), probably made of a local soft wood, and hand painted with squares not perfectly delineated. Black light and "loop" inspection reveals age crazing and original paint that, in conjunction with original wear and no attempt to touch up, dates it to the early 19th century. Most definitely American, as the last thing an English immigrant would have brought to America at that time would have been a game. When closed, or in the folding position, the board game simulates and is made to look like two books resting side by side (see images), and thusly, was made to sit on a book shelf, either horizontally or vertically; and to be pulled out to play games when desired, which would have been either the game of checkers (draughts), chess, or backgammon. The board opens up to a two sided game option. On one side is the proverbial 64 square (English/ American version) of chess or checkers; and on the other side is a backgammon board. Both sides are hand painted in gold and black, with a rust colored border around the checkerboard. The interior backgammon play area is also black and gold with the same color rust area to the central part. Nail hinges in the center frame, pivot the two sides to open, while a leather covering borders the edge trim, which is 50% lacking on the hinge side. I state the condition to be good, considering it's age, it's use, and the fact that it is still very "usable" and, if taken care of, will probably continue to be so for nearly another 200 years! The checkers, (12) black pieces and (12) yellow (the correct numbers) are hand carved in wood and hand painted. The backgammon pieces (stored in period wooden box) contain 14 yellow hand painted and carved pieces and (13) black ones. (15) of each color are used to play backgammon (simply use the checkers, which are just about the same size (see images) to make up the difference. Most antique game boards...

19th Folk Art gaming wheel featuring four cardinals and hand painted numbers, it retains the original red and yellow paint. A charming piece of Americana that would make a colorful w...

19th C original painted checkerboard game board.

19Thc Original Mustard & Red painted oversized game board in fantastic condition. The colors are perfect for any folk art collection. Great looking board !

19Thc Original Green & brown painted game board from Pennsylvania. Early cut nails and nice surface.

19th C Original painted checkerboard.

American game wheel, made of wood, two-sided, with a fancy chrome spinner and long, metal pins. The polychrome-paint is simply a 10-out-of-10 in terms of color, graphics, and surface...

Late 19th century hand made and decoratively painted game board, circa 1890s to 1910, a checker or chess board with squares individually hand painted with miniature watercolor portra...

19th century game board in original painted red and black original surface. Hand painted red and black with gold lines between boxes. Nice old...

Look at the wonderful original patina on this game board. What a great conversation piece or wall hanging. True Americana decor. Be sure to check our s...

Mid to Late 19th Century rustic painted game table, a country Hepplewhite style game stand with painted checkerboard top enclosed within shallow raised ga...

Masterpiece quality American game board with fancifully painted cherubs, ca 1870 This is one of the greatest American painted Parcheesi boards extant. The fine quality of this is ...

This fantastic all original paint decorated game board is in fine condition with minor end chips or marks but does not detract from its amazing beauty and condition.

This 19th century “make do” original painted checkers game board shows an outstanding polychromatic original painted wood surface and is constructed from...

Authentic Scrimshaw carved into and antique tortoise shell with brass legs. Carved aboard the Ship Argonaut. A whaling ship from Sag Harbor New York from 1814-1832. The detailed carv...

19thc Original reverse painted game board behind glass in original old surface frame.This red and black checker board is painted on the glass with ...

PENNSYLVANIA BACKGAMMON BOARD, SIGNED "WISE" WITH IMAGES OF A WAGON WHEEL AND A STAR OF DAVID, 1850-1880 Found near the town of Milford, in the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, is...

“Visit To Camp,” an extraordinarily rare card game by mclaughlin brothers of new york, circa 1871. This extremely rare card game, designed with Civil War context, was made by McLoughlin Brothers in New York City. The set includes 12 (complete) chromolithographed, character playing cards, and 68 (out of 72) object cards, with various accoutrements. All of the above are housed in a wooden storage box with a slide lid and a chromolithographed, paper label. Played in an ad-lib, story-telling format, the characters include the Colonel, the Captain, the Zouave soldier with red pantaloons, the Rifleman, the Artilleryman, the Riding Master, the Musician, the Ferrier, the Surgeon, the Sapper (engineer), the Sutler (cook), and the Vi Vandeer (a woman who takes care of the troops). Each character was originally linked to 6 objects, which were to be produced by players on demand during a spoken reading of the game’s convoluted story-line. There are actually 69 cards included here, one of which is an object card for “the Chinaman.” Since the card matches the style exactly in printing, shape, and scale, and since there was no Chinaman in this game, I presume that the card must have once accompanied another McLaughlin ad-lib deck. The instructions (reproduced, in scale) list 13 possible players, with the 13th acting as narrator. I could locate only 3 other copies of this extremely rare game, all of which included 12 cards. McLoughlin Brothers is said to have pioneered the systematic use of color printing technologies in children’s books. The publishing firm opened in 1820 and was active until 1920, when it was sold to Milton Bradley. During the early years, the product line included toys in addition to books, among which were games, blocks, and paper dolls. Artwork from famous illustrators such as Thomas Nast, William Momberger, Ida Waugh” (Laura Wasowicz), Justin Howard, and Palmer Cox...