Carved Mother of Pearl Gaming, Counter Antique, 18th c. Chinese. Pkg 1. B15-mop137

Antique 18th c. Chinese carved mother of pearl gaming counter measuring 63x25mm and 2.4 mm thickness. Beautiful detailed carving of village scene with houses, people and plants on one side and EC monogram surrounded with carved houses and various insects, birds and animals on the back. Each counter is slightly different as each is hand carved.

These mother of pearl game counters make stunning pendants. These counters can set into a gold or silver setting or carefully drilled for stringing. This 225 year old, hand-engraved gaming chip was created in China for export to Britain's aristocracy of the day. During the early 1700's, wealthy European families commissioned Chinese artisans to make finely engraved sets of mother-of-pearl gaming counters for use in parlor games such as Ombre, Quadrille, Loo and Whist. The demand for these miniature works of art declined after 1840 when card games that did not require gaming tokens became more popular. The shells were ground flat, shaped, polished and engraved - 150-300 years ago, and all by hand! The particular large mollusk that provided these large flat shells was hunted to extinction to supply this trade. These counters are sought after by collectors and are wonderful centerpieces for jewelry.