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THBCivil War POW Folk Art Carved Wood and Bone Dice
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveFeb 21, 2017 - Feb 22, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (290)
- Lot Description
Lot of 3. It is common knowledge that gambling played a major role in relieving the monotony of army life in winter quarters and the long periods of idleness between campaigns, and especially in prison life. It was also a favorite subject for POW carvers and craftsmen, in both bone and wood, often mentioned in regimental histories and prison accounts. Gambling was undoubtedly one of the very most popular of all pastime activities! Here are three gambling devices of known soldier carving:
Huge massive size single unit (probably of a two piece set of dice), doubtful that it was intended for actual use in gambling and probably carved as a “tour de force,” representing an experimental achievement displaying the skill and ingenuity of the artful carver!
Extremely well made of a dark nicely grained wood each of its many sides very neatly and correctly inlaid with lighter brown (small round) circles (from one to six of them on the varying sides) exactly as found on the smaller sets. One side quite magnificent inlaid with two tones of medium and lighter wood and a very fancy multi-prong star motif. Beautifully carved on one side as well with very large fancy old English letters C.S.A. in a flowing riband-like panel [Confederate States of America] and on two other sides with old English (upper and lowercase) words West…of the. It does seem quite obvious that there was another die at one time to make a matched pair in which would have continued the statement commenced here, West of the… All sides are equal at 2 in. in length, making it quite massive in size and obviously beyond use as an actual gambling implement.
Plus, a comically small set of dice acquired many years ago with a series of other prisoner of war carvings, very regrettably its actual origins as to maker long lost; however, the item itself is completely intact and consists of: small white bone bullet shaped carving just 1.75 in. overall, some simple neat horizontal line carvings and decoration in both red and black of pairs of dice on its outer shell. The tiny screw-up white bone, when removed allows two complete pairs of the tiniest white bone dice to pour out. Each individual die being just slightly smaller than one eighth of an inch squared. Two sets that are obviously in the running for being the world’s tiniest sets of dice! (midget dice; certainly qualifying as “miniature” dice; or any one of numerous interchangeable terminology).
As with the huge single wooden die above, it may have been made merely as a curiosity or “tour de force,” but when one reads some of the accounts of gambling and how it was brought into play in the most unusual or unlikely spots, it is conceivable that this tiny set would have been very easily portable and not a hindrance as far as weight or size was concerned and would have been usable, especially if those engaged in the game had very good eyesight!
Accompanied by a pair of dice carved in bone, approx. .375 in. cubed.
Provenance: N. Flayderman and Co., Inc. - Shipping Info
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