vintage deluxe chess/checker/backgammon/domino/card board game set. wood & glass

The checkers, (12) black pieces and (12) yellow (the correct numbers) are hand carved in wood and hand painted. 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! 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. The interior backgammon play area is also black and gold with the same color rust area to the central part. Both sides are hand painted in gold and black, with a rust colored border around the checkerboard. On one side is the proverbial 64 square (English/ American version) of chess or checkers and on the other side is a backgammon board. The board opens up to a two sided game option. 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. Most definitely American, as the last thing an English immigrant would have brought to America at that time would have been a game. 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. 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. 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).

Vintage deluxe chess/checker/backgammon/domino/card board game set. wood & glass