Games board decorated with marquetry and relief-carved marquetry (Eger marquetry), showing the Death of Goliath.

The top is carved with a representation of the death of Goliath and defeat of the Philistines, and the bottom is inlaid with flowers in squares. The inside is inlaid with trophied columns and sea horses. There are thirty draughtsmen carved with fruits and vegetables, and two dice boxes.

Bought for £31. 14s from J.M. Whitehead (bought at Christie's, Mainwaring Sale, June 21 1876, Lot 206,

This particular form of sculpted marquetry was developed in Eger, Bohemia, in the early 17th century and the trade was at its height between about 1640 and 1680. It involved the setting of multiple pieces of wood, both native-grown and imported from tropical areas, each of them of different thicknesses, allowing for bas-relief carving to complete the image. The wood was set on a base of softwood, usually spruce, pine or fir. Mahogany, walnut and maple were particularly used for the marquetry, together with burr woods (highly figured wood cut from the roots or base of trees), which was used to create particular effects. Details might be added by engraving or by inlaying minute pieces of wood or other materials into the marquetry pieces.

The images created in this marquetry were often base on widely available engravings and could illustrate all sorts of scenes, biblical narratives and classical myths being among the most popular. Certain families became particularly known for this work, amongst them the Eck family and the Fischer family.

Eger marquetry had a particular vogue in the 19th century, when it was admired for its high technical excellence. The V&A has a number of pieces of Eger marquetry, including a panel showing Christ as the Man of Sorrows (41-1869), a games board with a panel showing the death of Absalom (W.61-1938)) and a large cabinet-on-stand (W.42-1977). It also has a number of small table cabinets made up with re-used Eger panels (museum nos. 7823-1861, 21-1884 and W.38 to 40-1939) which are evidence of the 19th-century popularity of such marquetry.


Comparable boards in other collections
-Silver mounted fruitwood marquetry and walnut games box, signed by Adam Eck and dated 1664, dimensions closed: 16.5 x 48 x 48cm (Christie's, London 7/7/2016 lot 303).
-Board depicting the Battle near Zama, signed by Georg Fischer (Dresden), in D. Syndram, Renaissance and Baroque Treasury Art, the Green Vault in Dresden, 2004, pp.72-73
-Board with Julius Caesar, in the Hesse State Museum, Darmstadt
-Board owned by Carl Gustav Wrangel, at Skoloster, Sweden
-Board owned by Count Axel von Löwen (1686-1772) in the Historic Museum, Stralsund

225 to FF-1876