Description:
Chinese export carved ivory jackstraws or spellicans (as they were known in England) used by Duckworth family of Montague and Springfield, Mass. These were the basis for a child's game similar to pick-up sticks. To play, each person took turns removing the jackstraws with a specially designed tool from a pile spilled onto a table. Care had to be taken not to upset the pile or the game ended. To make removal more difficult, some jackstraws were shaped like pikes, shovels, saws, halberds, and long-handled axes. Merchants and travelers to China brought back a variety of board games and toys (backgammon, checkers, chess, finger puzzles, ivory alphabet letters, and whistles) for the amusement of families and children. The collection of the Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Maine, contains a similar set of ivory jackstraws once owned by Kate Dow, a niece of Captain Oscar Eaton (1841-1935), who often sailed to East Asia. Some this these examples are shaped as a halberd, pike, long-handled axe, arrow, and shovel and saw; the rest are plain with tapered ends. The original data file listed 36 pieces.
Tags:
games Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+85.043 |
