What is in a games compendium?

The recurring contents are chess, draughts, dominoes and backgammon, with cards, dice and counters alongside them. The case is compartmented or trayed to suit. How much survives varies. Only a small number of listings describe a set as complete or fitted, so a compendium can arrive as a full outfit or as a case with part of its contents.

Which woods were used for the cases?

Oak leads at 25 titles, followed by mahogany at 21 and walnut at 14. Those three account for the bulk of what comes to market. Burr walnut, coromandel and rosewood turn up among the higher-priced examples, and plainer pine and beech sit at the other end of the range.

How old are most of these?

Dealer-entered dates run from 1800 to 1960. "19th Century" is the largest single bucket, with Victorian and Regency tags and decade labels such as the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s behind it. The twentieth century is well represented too, with a substantial run of 1900s, 1910s, 1920s and Edwardian entries. A large share of the category is Edwardian or later.

Why do shooting items appear under games?

The word is doing double duty. Game hooks, game racks, game bird panels, taxidermy trophies and game-park tapestries all share the term with the parlour pastimes. They form a visible minority of listings and are rising in current stock, so both meanings sit under the one heading.

What chess sets turn up in this category?

Chess appears in 38 titles, with 11 specifying a chess board and 8 the Staunton pattern. Boxwood is the named material in 8, usually paired with ebony or an ebonised dark side. Folding boards recur, and bone is recorded in 13 titles across men and counters. Chess is stronger in live stock than it is in the archive.

How often do games come up for sale?

About 38 pieces reach the market a year on Sellingantiques. Supply is scattered rather than concentrated: 110 different dealers have listed in the category, close to one dealer for every three listings. The unusual things surface once and not again, among them a Maori mu torere board and a knurr and spell lawn game.

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Antique Games

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Boxed games for the parlour and the billiard room: fitted compendia, chess sets and boards, and the single-game oddities that kept Victorian and Edwardian evenings occupied.