Grandmama's New Game of Natural History
Card Game
ca. 1850 (published)
ca. 1850 (published)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is a card game which is enhanced by the use of a playing sheet rather than a board game that uses cards. The centre of the playing sheet shows an elderly woman seated at a table surrounded by 24 compartments with fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. There are the same number of cards with these characters together with another 36 cards showing birds and animals printed with descriptions and four lines of verse. Some of these are placed in the compartments. Players take turns to draw the character cards and collect the verse cards from the corresponding compartment. The winner is the player with most verse cards at the end of the game.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 65 parts.
|
Title | Grandmama's New Game of Natural History (manufacturer's title) |
Materials and techniques | Lithographs, coloured by hand; wood-engravings, coloured by hand and letterpress . |
Brief description | Boxed game, Grandmama's New Game of Natural History, published in England about 1850 |
Physical description | Game set consisting of a playing sheet showing in the centre an elderly woman seated at a table and 24 surrounding compartments representing fairy tale characters; 24 cards showing characters corresponding with those on the playing sheet; 36 cards showing birds and animals, on the backs of which are printed descriptions and four lines of verse; a printed sheet of rules; a list of games issued by the same unidentified publisher. All in a wooden box divided into two compartments with a sliding lid with a lithographed pictorial label. The lithographed pictorial label on the sliding lid of the box shows a man with women and children looking at a stuffed gorilla in a museum, and below a woman with a boy and girl looking at lions in a zoo; on the left a bear at the top of a bole is being fed a bun; whilst on the left a monkey throws a coconut from a palm tree to a boy and girl. |
Dimensions |
|
Object history | E.1733 to 1900-1954 are The Raymond Barnett Collection of Toys and Games |
Historical context | Rewards: unknown Forfeits: unknown No. of Players: any Equipment required: cards, playing sheet Rules: Playing sheet shows in the centre an elderly woman seated at a table and 24 surrounding compartments representing fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. There are 24 plain backed cards showing the characters corresponding to those on the sheet, 36 cards showing birds and animals on the backs of which are printed descriptions and four lines of verse. There is also a printed sheet of rules. The characters represented on the playing sheet and also on the plain back cards are:- Valentine and Orson Bo Peep Puss in Boots Sinbad Giant with Two Heads Red Riding Hood Jack & The Goat The Wolf The Sleeping Beauty Children in the Wood Jack and Jill Cinderella The Silver Penny Crusoe Aladdin Hop o'my Thumb The White Cat Jack the Giant Killer Beauty & the Beast Jack and the Bean Stalk Old King Cole Goody Two Shoes Bo Peep's Sheep Blue Beard The other cards with four lines of verse printed on the reverse show:- Camel Kanguroo (sic) Lion Porcupine Tiger Bear Rhinoceros Elephant Monkey Leopard Dog Ourang Outang (sic) Ass Reindeer Wolf Horse Giraffe Goat Cat Hippopotamus Goose Sheep Cow Cuckoo Rabbit Ostrich Peacock Lynx Duck Parrot Pig Cock Turkey Zebra Hen Pigeon Examples of the descriptive verse are: The Hippopotamus. Native of Africa. An animal both large and strong, With four sharp teeth twelve inches long, And jaws that wide asunder spread: And such a body - such a head. The Turkey Cock of the Poultry Yard Though proud and vain this creature be, The smallest thing will make it flee. I would not be so proud and vain For all the wealth in France and Spain. The Cat. The cat is useful in a house To catch and kill a rat or mouse. How anxious is the cat to please: An how she loves to take her ease! The rules are printed on a single sheet of paper. Sort the cards, and place those which have not printed backs face downwards, in the centre of the picture sheet. Twelve of the cards, with descriptive letter press, are then to be taken from the box, and laid picture parts upwards upon any of the pictures round Grandmamma. Each player in turn to take one of the first named plain backed cards and if one of its counterpart in the margin of the pictures sheet a card of the other sort lies, such is to be taken up, read aloud and retained. When all the plain backed cards are used, whoever holds most of the descriptive ones wins the game, which must then be recommenced by taking more of the latter cards from the box, and playing with them as at first; and so on, till no more (each round being a game). The game may also be played by requiring that something should be named about each card before turning it over. |
Production | Possibly by E. & M. A. Ogilvy. This game is very similar to The Silver Bell or The Crystal Palace published by E. & M. A. Ogilvy (E. 801-1945) which has cards but not a sheet. |
Summary | This is a card game which is enhanced by the use of a playing sheet rather than a board game that uses cards. The centre of the playing sheet shows an elderly woman seated at a table surrounded by 24 compartments with fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. There are the same number of cards with these characters together with another 36 cards showing birds and animals printed with descriptions and four lines of verse. Some of these are placed in the compartments. Players take turns to draw the character cards and collect the verse cards from the corresponding compartment. The winner is the player with most verse cards at the end of the game. |
Bibliographic reference | Victoria & Albert Museum : Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings : Accessions 1954. London : HMSO, 1963. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.1786:1 to 63-1954 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | March 4, 2000 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest