Sold: Home Game

Folk art game board / glass, paper, wood / c. 1920s

Antique folk art parcheesi game board with unusual use of photos, c. 1920s. The game board is of sturdy construction (akin to a table top) and is inset with glass which acts as a playing surface. Underneath the glass, the board itself is composed of paper with hand-drawn lines and scissor cut ornamentation to reveal pale green paper backing. The wonderful thing about this homemade game is that it features the actual home of the players. The center of a parcheesi board is called the home space, and here we have a photograph of a turn of the twentieth century clapboard house. Surrounding it are portraits of four children, representing each player. Almost certainly the kids are siblings and the picture of the house is their own home, the game designed and constructed by a parent. The piece is one of the most unusual homemade game boards I’ve ever come upon, and stands as a singular and evocative piece of American folk art.

Good antique condition, with some old water stains to interior paper (perhaps the game got heated and one of these kids tipped a glass). Heavy, but strung with sturdy hardware to hang on the wall.

Measurements

Approximately 2 feet 4 inches square

2 inches deep

Shipping

Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.