A Romanesque madder stained walrus ivory Tableman or gaming ...

Hammer

£50,000

A Romanesque madder stained walrus ivory Tableman or gaming piece, Cologne, c.1140-1180 AD the centre carved in high relief with a seated crossbowman firing upward, his squire behind him holding a shield over his head and a quiver of bolts or a flagon, the crossbowman wearing a mail hauberk and coif with his own shield placed in front of him showing the enarm or loop where his arm would be placed when wearing the shield; piercing his shield is a lance, within a border of repeating quatrefoils and rectangular fillets, remnants of madder stain, 56mm diameter, 12mm deep

Literature – The Victoria & Albert Museum includes a number of similar gaming pieces in its collection and their catalogue entry states -
Round gaming pieces such as this one almost certainly belonged to sets of 'tablemen'. The game of tables, or backgammon was popular in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, draughts only becoming established in the later Middle Ages. There were fifteen counters to each side, and twelfth-century boards inlaid with bone settings have been excavated at Gloucester and Saint- Denis. Only one full set with two sides of fifteen counters and a board, that at Gloucester, still exists, but it is clear that a great variety of subjects was carved on the discs, ranging from single animals to scenes from classical mythology.
Although some 250 examples of Romanesque gaming pieces decorated with figures are known to exist, most are held in museum collections and are scarcely seen for sale on the open market.
It appears clear that the crossbowman is being protected by the soldier behind him. The crossbowman’s shield has been pierced by a lance, and he is firing up-wards presumably towards some sort of fortification. He wears a hauberk and coif, such is the usual method of depicting mail. The soldier behind him wears a surcoat, the edges of which are carved with dashes, probably an example of the so-called ‘pricked style’. He is also wearing a pointed helmet (or cap) but without the ubiquitous Bayeux tapestry nasal bar. His own shield has also been pierced by a well-defined lance head, and he is holding what may be a quiver of bolts for the crossbow. Such quivers, which are of various forms, but which always flare towards the base. Alternatively, this may represent a flask of wine, held to refresh the crossbowman. The border of the piece is carved with a repeated pattern closely similar to others of the same ilk.

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