A backgammon board is the last object you expect to find in cloisonne, yet here it is, its playing surface enamelled with lion roundels and scrolling ground. The court played games, and it wanted its games to look like treasure.
Cloisonne on a flat, hinged board is a different problem from cloisonne on a vessel. The surface must stay level and the wire pattern must survive being opened, closed and carried. The workshop treated the board like a small floor, tiled in enamel.
Lions, not dragons, guard this board. The Buddhist guardian beast reads as protection of the play itself, a charm against a bad throw as much as against harm.
A game rendered in fired glass tells you something plain. Pleasure, in the Qing court, was allowed to be expensive.
Object details
| Name | Cloisonne backgammon board with lion roundels (掐丝珐琅狮纹双陆棋盘) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 故00116326 |
| Technique | Cloisonne enamel (掐丝珐琅) |
| Period | Qing dynasty, imperial workshop |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum collection.