Early Painted Gameboard
with Deep Color   

American, probably Northeast, ca. 1830–1870.

Pine, retaining its original dry painted surface. A generous deep green border surrounds a field of red and black squares.

Stoutly made from dense pine a full inch thick, the board has a pleasing substance, framed by applied picture-frame molding joined with large cut nails. Wear along the molding exposes the warm wood beneath, softly outlining the dark painted field. The reverse bears an engraved “Mill Game.”

The colors are subdued in ordinary room light, with the richness of the red and the distinction between green and black becoming more apparent in stronger light. Photographed indoors and outdoors to show this range.

About 18 inches x 14½ inches. From a private New York State collection.