Carline Vintage Games and Objects
Another of our specialist Dealers has a wealth of antique and vintage games. As a successful croquet player he always has croquet sets, mallets, competition hoops, balls etc. on offer.
Being a low handicap player as well as a Coach and Referee, he is always happy to advise on the game he loves. Rother Valley Croquet Club is close by and a taster session can be arranged, so if you are interested then have a look at their website www.rothervalleycroquet.co.uk for information. For anybody who wants to look seriously at a social, fun and entertaining sport, then a look at the Croquet Academy site
thecroquetacademy.com shows the 2019 courses held at Sussex County Croquet Club at Southwick with its 11 immaculate lawns.
SCCC is host to this year’s WCF Simon Carter World GC Championships in late July early August. This promises to be an unmissable tournament with a super strong Egyptian contingent, a highly respected New Zealand presence, current World Champion, South Africa’s Reg Bamford plus the UK’s best. See www.worldcroquet.org.uk for details.
Mah jong
Mah Jong sets are available. A wonderful game for four players, the game starts with the ‘twittering of the sparrows’ (shuffling the pieces), followed by the very symbolic building of the ‘Great Wall’ which must have no gaps to keep out any evil spirits or dragons!
Look at the fascinating pieces: Circles, Bamboo, Characters, Winds, Dragons, Flowers and Seasons. In total one hundred and forty four bone and bamboo beautifully crafted tiles.
Even the tally sticks, miniature dice and tong box (beautifully crafted pot containing the four winds) make this charming game a wonderfully tactile experience.
The game (which can last two hours or more) is not dissimilar to Rummy and includes special hands like – The Wriggling Snake, Plucking the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea, the Three Great Scholars, Heaven’s Blessing and the Thirteen Unique Wonders.
Backgamon
Backgammon is a game that dates back 5000 years to Mesopotamia. A game for two players with 15 pieces each that move between twenty four triangles on the board depending on the throw of the dice.
This full set of boxed counters is in the shop
Skittles
We have old skittles sets which can be played on the lawn.
The west country have skittles leagues and locally there are pubs with alleys. Scoring can be simple and looking on line to find out variations of how the game can be played is worthwhile.
Chess
Chess is a traditional favourite and good sets are very sought after. Staunton sets are the classic design which John Jaques introduced in 1849
Dating Jaques sets is fascinating, there were sixteen different knight designs between 1849 and 1940 as well as the printed labels found in the boxes.
Box labels hold the biggest clue to the date of manufacture
THE STAUNTON CHESS – MEN changed to THE STAUNTON CHESSMEN in the early 1880’s and became The Staunton Chessmen then in 1900 it became Genuine Staunton Chessmen and in 1930 the last subtle change was to Original Staunton Chessmen.
Why Staunton? Howard Staunton was a Shakespearian scholar and Chess Master in the middle of the 19th century and the pieces designed were named after him. Nathaniel Cooke helped to design the sets
This lovely folding chess board is in stock
Cribbage
Cribbage is a wonderful parlour card game and always popular in pubs. ‘Fifteen – two, fifteen – four, fifteen – six, two’s eight, two’s ten and one for ‘is knob’, could frequently be heard.
Sometimes someone would call, ‘Nineteen’, a score impossible to achieve, so they were actually declaring nothing!
I do have this beautiful example of a cribbage board on sale currently in Tudor Rose, the peg well underneath is a charming part of the piece.
Whist markers
A matched pair of Shibayama markers are attractive as ornamental objects
Visit Tudor Rose Antiques & Interiors open Monday – Saturday 10 to 5.15 Bank Holidays 11 – 4.15, in Petworth, West Sussex.