JAPAN 1900 Meiji Pair Shibayama Bezique Whist Game Counters Insects

Japanese Bezique whist game counters. This is a beautiful pair of Bezique or games markers counters from the latter part of the Meiji period of the imperial Japan, circa 1900. Each marker is of rectangular shape formed from high quality cuts carvings of brownish polished rose-wood. The main central panels are finely carved and depicts flowers and a butterfly applied with 24 karats gold. The eight of the lifting games marker tabs are carved in ivory with inlaid made up in the difficult Shibayama technique, showing the figures of different insects. Both retain their original patina and this great pair of markers will be a great addition for your Bijouterie cabinet.  Bezique Bezique or bésigue in French is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players that came to Britain and is still played today. The game achieved its greatest popularity in Paris by 1860 and had reached England by 1861. Perhaps the most famous proponent of the game was Winston Churchill, an avid player and early expert of six-pack, or "Chinese" bezique. There is some evidence that the English writers Willkie Collins and Christina Rossetti were also enthusiasts. However, since the late nineteenth century the game has declined in popularity. Although the original 1847 game was played with a single piquet pack of 32 cards, the rules already suggested that the game might be played with two packs which would double the number of available points and, by no later than 1864 in the