PAINTING - Game of Backgammon by David Teniers (Flemish, 1610–1690)

Game of Backgammon
by David Teniers (Flemish, 1610–1690)

Publication date 1640s 
Usage CC0 1.0 UniversalCreative Commons Licensezero 
Topics European Painting and Sculpture 
Item Size 82.0M

Game of Backgammon, 1640s. David Teniers (Flemish, 1610–1690). Oil on wood, transferred to canvas; framed: 82 x 102 x 9 cm (32 5/16 x 40 3/16 x 3 9/16 in.); unframed: 59 x 80.6 cm (23 1/4 x 31 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wise 1943.377

The game of backgammon has a long and popular history which can be traced back many centuries. The version of the game as it is played in modern times first appeared in the 1400s under various names. Its current appellation was coined around the same time as the date of this painting. Backgammon was exceptionally popular in the 1600s, and was often played for money or other wagers. The two men on the left side of this painting are clearly involved in a high stakes game of backgammon. A three-man cluster has gathered to watch them lay their bets, while another tallies their points on a scoreboard. The young lady in the right corner of the room otherwise surrounded by men and the older women who looks down on the game of backgammon from a window, both indicate that the interior presented in this painting is probably the gaming room of a brothel. Courtesans often worked out of such game rooms, providing further entertainment for men. Depictions of games, like procurement scenes, often symbolized moralizing virtues. Games were considered at best folly and at worst immoral. Backgammon was often used to represent the foolishness or wickedness of betting and wasting one's time.
Accession_number 1943.377 Addeddate 2019-01-15 11:46:08 Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wise Culture Flanders Dimensions Framed: 82 x 102 x 9 cm (32 5/16 x 40 3/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 59 x 80.6 cm (23 1/4 x 31 3/4 in.) Identifier clevelandart-1943.377-game-of-backgammon Last_update 2024-07-31 06:02:17.942468 Medium oil on wood, transferred to canvas Provenance Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674–1723), Regent of France (1674-1723)
Louis I Duke of Orléans (1703–1752) (1723-1752)
Louis Philippe I (1725–1785), Duke of Orléans (1752-1785)
Louis-Philippe II (1747–1793), Duke of Orléans / Philippe Égalité (1785-1792)
Brought to London by Thomas Moore Slade, (exhibited for sale in the Royal Academy, London, April 1793) (1792-1793)
George Hibbert (1757–1837), London, England (no date)
Thomas Penrice (d. 1816), Great Yarmouth, England, by inheritance to John Penrice (-1816)
John Penrice Sr. (1787-1844), sold, Christie's (1816-1844)
(Sale: Christie's, London, England, 07/06/1844, to Farrer) (July 6, 1844)
Farrer (1844-)
Private collection, sold, Christie's, London (-1925)
(Sale: Christie's, London, England, 07/17/1925, no. 119 through S. A. Hecht, London, England to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Wise) (July 17, 1925)
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wise (Cleveland, Ohio), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1943 (1925-1943)
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1943-) 
Scanner Internet Archive Python library 1.8.1 
Source_url https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.377