I wanted to post at least once a month, so I better get this in under the wire.
This is a gluckhaus board on which I am currently working (along with several other projects, both medieval and mundane). Gluckhaus was a gambling game popular in Germany during the late Middle Ages. We don't, as far as I know, have any extant game boards from the period, but there are several post-period examples available, and it is probably a reasonable expectation that the board didn't change much over the centuries.
Essentially, players take turns rolling a pair of dice. If there is no coin on the square bearing the number rolled, the player places a coin there. If there is a coin there, the player takes it. The only exceptions to that are the squares marked 12, 7 and 2. Square 7 is the wedding and is often denoted by a pair of interlocked wedding bands. When a 7 is rolled, the player must always pay a dowry, or a gift, as one does at a wedding, and this pot continues to build until a 12 is rolled. Rolling a 2, the Lucky Pig, entitles the player to take all of the coins on the board except for those on the 12 and the 7 (Wedding). The square marked 12 is devoted to the King, and because nothing can be denied to the King, the player rolling a 12 takes all of the coins on the board, including the wedding pot.
Though a German game, I feel a similar game must have made its way to the taverns and inns of Paris. Therefore, my board is decidedly French, and in keeping with Philippe's Dauphinist sentiments, somewhat monarchist as well. Hence, the fleur-du-lys in the corners. The golden emblem on the 12 space is a fleur-du-lys surmounted by a crown, an image taken directly from a 15th c. piece of embroidery from France.
As mentioned earlier, this is still a work in progress, so I have not yet added the wedding rings, the other numbers on the squares, or the embellishments on the edges. I plan to use an intertwining floral motif taken from a suitable manuscript. Or maybe some fish/dolphins/dauphins.
Beyond the images, however, this is not a period-accurate board. It is made of plywood, and I used acrylic paints. This is because it is really my first effort at woodworking and I wanted to keep it fairly simple. I am learning a lot on this project, and I hope on my next effort to use a proper piece of wood and egg tempera paints.
This is a gluckhaus board on which I am currently working (along with several other projects, both medieval and mundane). Gluckhaus was a gambling game popular in Germany during the late Middle Ages. We don't, as far as I know, have any extant game boards from the period, but there are several post-period examples available, and it is probably a reasonable expectation that the board didn't change much over the centuries.
 |
| Gluckhaus (or House of Fortune) |
Though a German game, I feel a similar game must have made its way to the taverns and inns of Paris. Therefore, my board is decidedly French, and in keeping with Philippe's Dauphinist sentiments, somewhat monarchist as well. Hence, the fleur-du-lys in the corners. The golden emblem on the 12 space is a fleur-du-lys surmounted by a crown, an image taken directly from a 15th c. piece of embroidery from France.
 |
The King!
The original, a piece of silk embroidery now housed at Paris' Musee Cluny de Moyen Ages.
The pig is taken directly from Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc du Berry, and is thus a perfectly period image for the time and place.
|
Beyond the images, however, this is not a period-accurate board. It is made of plywood, and I used acrylic paints. This is because it is really my first effort at woodworking and I wanted to keep it fairly simple. I am learning a lot on this project, and I hope on my next effort to use a proper piece of wood and egg tempera paints.
