Customer Comment: C. Swanson wrote:
Your games are absolutely beautiful. I studied Celtic archaeology at
Harvard University and these games capture the true essence of Celtic culture.
Your commitment to quality is certainly evident.
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Small Parts. Not For Children Under 3 Years.
Wooden Board Games
All designs © Rose & Pentagram Design.
Also watch this page for limited edition games
like those in our Gallery.
NEW! The Captain's Mistress
There is an unconfirmed legend that Captain Cook used this ancestor to the modern game Connect Four™ to relax with his fellow shipmates during his voyages. The story claims that he spent so much time playing the game, that it came to be known as The Captain's Mistress. The object of the game is simple, players try to be the first to line up four of their wooden balls in a row, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. This self-contained game is made with brass fittings, burlwood inlay on top, mitered joints and a lustrous, stained finish. At game's end, pull the bottom retaining "gangplank" and the hardwood balls drop back into the cabinet. 7 5/8" x 5 1/4" x 2 1/8"
$30.00 + $8.00 shipping
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-
Set contains a small ball. Not for children under 3 yrs.
All of the games below are "green" - they are made from wood that is salvaged from the furniture industry,
or "recycled" from items bought in second hand stores.
Hand decorated
Oak Fidchell Game
In 1932 a board was found in a crannog (lake dwelling) in Ireland. It contained a 7 X 7 grid of holes, and was decorated with designs used in the 10th century. Many scholars believed it to be a Fidchell (also spelled Fithcheal, or Fitchneal) or "Brandubh" game mentioned in early Irish legends, and related to Scandinavian Tafl games. These were the games of choice in Northern Europe prior to the introduction of Chess. The defenders win if the king escapes to the edge of the board, and the attackers win by surrounding the king. 4 different game variations included in the rules. The set also includes a simulated sheep knucklebone for use as dice for the Welsh variation.
$150.00 + $14.00 shipping
Limited EditionMorris is simple enough for children, yet the strategies can interest adults. The object is to form "mills" (3-in-a-row). When a you make a mill, you can steal an opponent's piece. You win by reducing the opponent to just 2 men. Early versions were played with 9 pieces, but in the 14th century diagonal lines were added to the board and it was played with 12 men. Our 14-inch square, inch-thick oak board can be used for either version.
We are offering two different styles of pewter game pieces in the shape of armor helmets.
Limited Edition
Oak & Pewter Morris Set
$185.00 + $22.00 shipping
Wooden Pope Joan Set
New Special!
Buy our wooden Pope Joan Set
and we'll throw in a free deck of our
18th Century English Playing Cards
2 to 6 players. An 18th century ancestor to modern Rummy Royale, Tripoly & Michigan Rummy. The name comes from a Medieval myth that Pope John VIII was a woman. Easy to learn, but fast-moving enough for experienced card players. The board is divided into eight "bowls." Players win markers/coins out of the bowls as they play the face cards of the trump suit, and the first one to get rid of his cards wins the hand. The set also includes the rules for 3 other related card games, and enough glass drops as chips for up to 6 players.
$35.00 + $12.00 shipping.
An oak Hnefatafl ("King's Table") game set with "bone" game pieces inspired by a surviving English bone game piece found in Woodperry, Oxfordshire. The boards are about 1" thick oak and about 14-inches square. These games were played by Norse cultures as early as 400 A.D., and were imported by the Vikings to Iceland, Britain, Ireland, and Wales. They seem to have been the primary strategy games in Northern Europe until the introduction of Chess. Unlike Chess, or Checkers which are fought by armies from opposite sides of the board, Tafl games involve a single king and his defenders in the center of the board surrounded by an army of attackers twice their number. We Include a set of dice and facsimile sheep knucklebones for playing variations on these games which require dice.
Oak Hnefatafl Game $100.00, Shipping: $18.00
Real Bone Hnefatafl Sets
We just obtained more bones to make two more Hnefatafl sets with real deer toe bone game pieces.
The defending army is dyed red inspired by historic ivory chess pieces which were red colored.
These are limited edition sets that we are able to offer only 2, or 3 times a year.
Hnefatafl Game with bone pieces
$125.00, Shipping: $18.00
These boards are "recycled" from drab old giant cribbage boards and have been given a new life, hand decorated with Celtic bird patterns so they make beautiful wall decorations when not in use. They all come with hand turned wooden pegs and our booklet of 14 variations on cribbage games. They are all priced at $125.00 +$18.00 shipping
Giant Cribbage Board #1
Unknown wood
31" x 8"
Pentalpha is a solitaire or puzzle game believed to date to ancient Greece. The object is to discover how to get all 9 pieces on either a point or an intersection of the star. Each game piece can start on any empty point or intersection of the star, and each piece must move three spaces in a straight line to land on an empty space.
Contrary to popular belief, the Pentagram, or five-pointed star is not a symbol of evil. Few people realize that a five-pointed star was actually once a Christian symbol. In a 13th century version of the story "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Gawain rides off carrying a shield with a five-point star on it that symbolized that the five wounds that Christ received on the cross, strengthened by the five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (The Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption). Another interpretation is that the points represent the four elements (earth, air water and fire), plus man (or spirit).
We have incorporated both interpretations in the designs of our pentagram. The rose in the center represents the crown of thorns and the Celtic motifs around the outside represent man and the elements. The hand painted board includes the rules and our own "Greenman" game pieces. We have made this game before, but this is a limited run, only 25 have been made.
$50.00 + $12.00 shipping
The Backgammon game decorating this "recycled" table is inspired by a 4-player game "The Tables of the four Seasons" described in The Book of Games, a manuscript commissioned by Alphonso X of Spain in about 1280. Players used game pieces color-coded to represent the seasons. The knotwork decorating Backgammon board is an original pattern, as are the "Greenman" designs in the corners reflecting the changing seasons. The Celtic bird and dog patterns in the Chessboard, and the birds on the border of the table were inspired by similar designs in the Book of Kells. The table opens in the center to reveal a felt-lined compartment for storing the pieces.
The accompanying Chess set is a reproduction of a 12 century set found in the 1800's on the Isle of. It is considered one of the most important early Chess sets of Europe. The table comes with the Lewis Chessmen, Backgammon pieces, a complete set of our historic dice, playing cards plus booklets with 30 variations on Backgammon games and early card and dice games. The table is about 40" across.
Price reduced now, $1700.00
Includes rules and glass game pieces. Price $500.00
