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This is a small collection of four antique bone teetotums.

The box also contains four small  some bone dice.

Many antique teetotums (spinning dice/tops) were made by prisoners of war, particularly French prisoners held in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars (1703–1815). Captives carved these detailed multi-sided gaming pieces out of leftover beef or ox bone to pass the time and sell to guards or locals for money.

One  of the teetotums is a Put and Take example- see below for the game

One is an 8 sided teetotal stained red.

There are two slightly different teetotums with dots instead of numbers, these would have been used as dice, spinning rather than shaking the dice.

 

A teetotum was a many faceted spinning top usually 4,6,8 or 12 sides marked with distinctive numbers or letters, many were made by Prisoners of War. They were used for playing games, mostly of the gambling variety and serves in place of dice.

A common gambling game played was called Put and Take. This was played with the examples which had the letters on P, T, H and N. The players either had to put money in the pot or take it out.

One of the Teetotums is for playing  Put and Take game.

Every player starts with an equal number of game pieces, counters, or coins (such as tokens, chips, or small coins). All players place an agreed-upon starting stake into the middle to form the "pot".Taking Turns: Players take turns spinning the teetotum. The Action: When the top stops, read the letter or symbol facing up.

P = Player puts and agreed stake in the pot eg 1 or 2 counters.

T= The player can take an agreed amount out from the pot.

H - The player takes half  out of the pot

N The player takes nothing.

If the pot becomes empty each player puts in an agreed new stake.

The game continues for a set number of rounds, the winner is the one with the most winnings.

A Small Collection of Prison Antique Teetotums

£195.00Price
Quantity
    OPUS ANTIQUES
     
    We first became involved in Antique Treen and furniture some twenty five years ago and since then a passion for Treen, small wooden snuff boxes and decorative wooden items has developed into Opus Antiques.


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    ANTIQUE TREEN

    ​The word Treen is derived from the word tree and is a term used to describe wooden household objects, all turned from one piece of wood e.g. a bowl, plate, gingerbread mould, and spoons, always having a function.

    Nowadays when we talk about Antique Treen it tends to cover all small wooden items including antique snuff boxes, candle stands, spice towers, etc. often made from several pieces of turned wood.

     

    When a piece of wood has been painstakingly turned or carved, handled, polished and loved over a few hundred years old, it can develop a wonderful colour and patina and becomes an irresistible piece of Antique Treen.

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    Address: Devon      Contact Telephone: 07941 285532       Email:opusantiques@hotmail.co.uk

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