Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Anik R on March 29, 2011, 05:44:58 PM
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I was wondering if anyone could tell me a little more about these little board game pawns... Is it possible to identify a maker or country of origin? And could anyone tell me when glass was used for pawns?
Each is about 22mm tall, with a base which is about 12mm wide. Though they slightly differ in size and shape (some are wonkier than others), they appear to be pressed as each has a seam. They are not of any great quality.
My husband insists that they aren't board game pawns, but fancy earplugs... He even went as far as to demonstrate their use. :-X Please tell me he isn't right.
Thank you for looking.
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Did you take pics of him demonstrating them Anik? :t:
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I have a Glass Chess set here -- so they could be.....
Did you take pics of him demonstrating them Anik? :t:
.......BUT we will need a Pic of your OH *wearing them* so that we can *truly researching this mystifying puzzle* as great Glass Detectives.....LOL :24: :24: :24:
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Anne, I didn't take a picture because I was too busy pretending to be all insulted with his 'stupidity'... but when I took the pieces into the kitchen to re-wash them, I did secretly try one... it actually fit very well into the ear. :-[ Dear me...
Rose, thank you for your photos, however, it's not quite what I meant... I do know that games of chess (and others) can be found in glass, even today.
My 'pawns' have got age to them... they're also wonky which leads me to believe they were just usable playing pieces for regular folk and children, hence my question about when glass was commonly used for games. OK, so it's a dumb question. :spls:
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The Romans probably used glass pieces in some of their games and I bet they were not the first. I have a game called Plato (from the 60's or 70's I think) which uses glass balls - I will organise a photo this evening.
In chess you usually only have the pieces in two colours....
John
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John, thank you for your input... :)
I do realise that using glass pieces in games is not a 'new' invention. I was just wondering when glass was most commonly used for game pawns. (I'm approaching 40 and I've only ever used wooden and plastic pieces.) Also, by using the word 'pawns', I wasn't referring to the pieces used in chess. My little glass thingies are most definitely not part of a chess set -- That much I do know.
:hi:
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quote from Anik..............."I'm approaching 40".......................so am I, but from the other side ;).
I suppose that if you had sufficient quantity of these you cud always play peg solitaire - although you wud of course need a board. In peg solitaire, the colour of the pieces is unimportant, although they are pushed into holes in a board, usually. Just a thought :)
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I think these are Halma men. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halma
My grandmother had a set, (although not glass ones) and they were identical in size and shape. As a child I got into trouble for putting them in my ears :-[ :wsh:
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There are too many colours for Halma though
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Chinese checkers uses up to six colours.
Just checked re the Romans, they definitely used glass gaming pieces. They may have been used far more by the aristocracy than the plebs.
John
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But I've only seen Chinese :or: Checkers with marbles... :huh:
Carolyn
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My pieces could be for the ancient game 'Senet': http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=38576
It looks like a perfect match... All you have to do is use a bit of imagination, tilt your head slightly to the right, squint your eyes, and turn off all logic and reasoning. ;D
In all seriousness, I do believe mine are generic moving pieces which could have been used in a multitude of board games... I doubt it will ever be discovered which game they originally belonged to. But it would be nice to know...
Here is one more picture:
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I know Anik doesn't think they are chess pawns and they might well not be, but as John says, chessmen are usually two colours, so I thought this image might be useful to throw into the conversation as I've never seen the multi-coloured chess sets before, and the pieces may well find their way onto the board at some time:
(http://images.hayneedle.com/mgen/master:CI026.jpg?is=1600,1600,0xffffff) (http://images.hayneedle.com/mgen/master:CI026.jpg?is=1600,1600,0xffffff)
(click to see larger image)
A Google image search for Color Glass Chess Set brings up various other examples too.
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Anik you have made me laugh today about your honesty with sneaky testing. I am a very visual person . That chess set looks like the maker conceived it whilst tripping,
As per usual I offer no help with the question.
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Hi Anik :hi: I have been up half the night looking for an answer to these....I have looked at every possible combination of game pieces and ear plugs and am still asking myself the questions....why 2 of each colour and why 10 pieces??
Where did you get them? Did the seller give any indication of what they thought they might be?
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Hello ladies, and thank you for your replies :kissy:.
Rosie, I won the pieces on Allegro from a seller in Krakow. He described them as "Pre-war glass game pieces" and gave their measurements. That's it. I suspect that originally, there were more of them but got lost with time and play.
:hi:
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So does anyone know of any Old Polish board games My goodness this is fun. I just googled Poland board games and many sites came up but its nigh nigh time down under and I am off.
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So does anyone know of any Old Polish board games My goodness this is fun. I just googled Poland board games and many sites came up but its nigh nigh time down under and I am off.
Now why didn't I think of that? :pb:
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Now why didn't I think of that?
Because you have been poorly Anik....I was sorry to hear that, and I hope you are better now. :hug:
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Anik it is not often I come up an idea, that was the highlight of the night. however I am crawling through allegro with my on line translator to see of there are any games. I havent had this much fun since I lived in Germany and ebay.de
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Lee, you're a sweetie :kissy:.
I spent some time looking for old Polish (as well as German and Austrian) board games, but haven't come up with any answers yet. Interestingly, the majority of replacement pieces (in plastic or wood) have the same shape and size as my glass ones. That leads me to believe that perhaps the pieces really are simply 'generic', and could have been used for many different games. :)
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I did think they maybe spares for a game. but I shall keep on with my Polish lesson. Lesson1 nothing is pronounce the way it is spelt.
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I haven't been able to find any more information about my game pieces.
Any new ideas regarding date or anything else? Thank you. :usd:
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Good morning Anik! I wonder if you were meaning the sort of ear plugs you put in your ears to block out noise, because I had been thinking perhaps they were a sort of ear plug jewellery, like these on Google....waddayathink??
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=glass+ear+plugs+jewelry&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=1700l6365l0l9438l15l15l0l0l0l0l312l2745l0.10.4.1l15l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1256&bih=772&wrapid=tlif131702546225110&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi