An antique game of Squails, complete with its original sixteen wooden discs, the swoggle and the lead jack. The box has its original label on the sliding lid and is almost certainly from the famous games maker John Jacques.
Some of the discs, the paintwork is worn in places. Lovely to be complete. The box measures 22cm w x 11.5cm d x 3cm h.
C1890
The old English game of Squails was played on a round table and the objective was to hit discs with the heel of the hand from the edge of the table at a small lead target in the centre called a "jack". If the jack was moved more than six inches it was replaced. Once all sixteen Squails had been played, they scored 16 for the squail nearest to the target down to 1 for the squail furthest away. Often, a squail would be directed with the aim of knocking an opponents squail away, as much as to end up near the target, in the same manner as for bowls.