Victorian Gilt Brass Bézique Games Box with Agate Cabochons, Circa 1870
Victorian Gilt Brass Bézique Games Box with Agate Cabochons, Circa 1870
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A mid-Victorian Bézique games box in gilt brass over a wooden carcass, English, circa 1865 to 1880. Bézique was a French card game that became a craze in English drawing rooms in the late 1860s after the publication of Cavendish's rules, played by Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales among others. This box was made for that fashion. The lid carries an engraved brass scoring marker labeled BÉZIQUE flanked by two recessed wells in blue watered silk that held the two card decks the game required, with a second brass cribbage board fitted in the base. The Gothic Revival mounts are set with seven Scottish banded agate cabochons.
The box is in honest antique condition with age-appropriate wear throughout. All seven Scottish banded agate cabochons are intact and secure in their mounts, with no chips or losses. The Gothic Revival brass mounts are complete with crisp engraving and good gilt color across the high points, with light surface wear and a deeper natural patina in the recesses. The lid closes flush but requires firm pressure on the right rear corner to seat fully, consistent with slight frame settling over time. The hinge functions properly. The interior blue watered silk lining is largely intact but shows water staining and discoloration, particularly in the upper area near the hinge and around the deck wells. The engraved brass Bézique scoring marker on the lid interior and the brass cribbage board in the base both retain their engraved decoration with surface wear, light staining, and faint adhesive residue in a few spots, consistent with long use. The leather-covered interior divider is present and intact with edge wear. Eight original brass scoring pegs and one brass peg-lifter are present and stored within the box. The original card decks are not present, and the silk-lined wells where they sat are empty. The covering on the underside of the case is the most significant condition issue: the original red textile backing is heavily worn with extensive losses across the center, exposing the wooden substrate beneath. The brass edging around the underside perimeter is intact. The case structure beneath is sound throughout.
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Every antique and vintage item we carry has lived a life before arriving in your home. These are not factory-made products. They are objects with history, character, and the marks of time.
Age-appropriate wear, patina, minor imperfections, and signs of previous use or repair are inherent to antique and vintage items and are not considered defects. These characteristics are part of what makes each piece unique and are often what give it its beauty and value.
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