Board games from the city of Vijayanagara (Hampi ... - Gioco dell'Oca.

M. GRANADOS, REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF BAROQUE GAMES TABLES 41
Plate 2: Games table for chess, morris and backgammon. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum,
Munich.Top: Augsburg, 1683/92, frame around 1700. Materials: oak, marquetry:
tortoiseshell and engraved mother-of-pearl, ebony and other tropical woods.
76.2 cm x 104 cm x 74.9 cm. Inv. Nr. 95/58. © Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München.
Plate 3: Detail of plate 2: Boards for chess and morris. Inv. Nr. 95/58. © Bayerisches
Nationalmuseum, München.
frame of the table there is a backgammon board. The chess and morris boards are rhomboid,
which makes them unplayable. The chessboard is inlaid with tortoiseshell and
mother-of pearl, and the morris-board next to it with mother-of-pearl. The backgammon
board underneath shows geometric tongues in mother-of-pearl and ebony, and in
the middle between the fields a geometric pattern. As in the other example, top and
frame are inlaid with tortoiseshell and engraved mother-of-pearl, but the table is much
smaller than the one in the residence in Munich, which is an indication that the smaller
table was made for one of the summer residences (probably Nymphenburg) of Max
Emanuel, where it would be standing in one of the private cabinets. The material is very
precious again, which elevates the games table to a representative piece of furniture. On
the middle piece of the tabletop are inlaid ornaments of acantus leaves with various gaming
scenes: in the middle a couple of courtiers playing backgammon, in the corners
scenes of skittles, card, dice and billiards games. The scene of card-playing men is imitated
by card-playing monkeys, who are symbols for immorality and allude to the
ambiguous role of games. The middle scene on the tabletop is framed by ten medallions
which depict the portraits of ten commanders of the ally in the war of Austria against
the Ottomans. They are the victors of the battle of Kahlenberg (near Vienna) of 1683,
and most of them can be identified by their coats of arms. Next to the Habsburg
Emperor Leopold I are portraits of Max Emanuel of Bavaria and Johann Georg of
Saxony, opposite of them the King of Poland Johann Sobiesky, the Duke of
Württemberg, Friedrich Karl, and Charles V of Lorraine. In the corners of the top is the
double eagle of the Emperor, framed by Habsburg banners and Turkish war trophies. The
medallions are framed with arabesques entwined with victory allegories of defeated Turks
and putti with arms. This games table not only carries allegories of war, but also scenes
which are typical activities in the summer residences, namely playing indoor and outdoor
games. Combined with the allegories of the victories over the Turks, the iconografic
programme on the games table in a double meaning alludes to peace: only in times
of peace, which can be achieved by the victories of the wise reign of the sovereign, it is
possible to play games.
This table is one of a pair, but the other table, which is in the Residence in Ansbach
(Inv. Nr. Ans.Res.M 111), is only a fragment, the underframe is missing. The two tables
are not exactly identical, the example in Ansbach does not show the portraits of the
commanders, but exotic animals, symbols of the continents and times of the day, only
in the acantus-leave ornament are entwined a few war trophies and allegories on the war
with the Turks. Pairs of games tables often served as presents of sovereigns in the 18th