- We’ve owned some of
these carved fish before and researched them again. The consensus
of opinion is that they are “game counters” for board
or card games, most likely the latter, with whist and loo being
mentioned as two such games. They were evidently carved in China
from ox bone. Many of them were exported to England in the late
18th century and some subsequently made their way to America.
In both England and America they also found use as thread winders.
They range from 1 ½” to 1 ¾” long and
many have red dye accenting the carved gills and mouths. We have
mounted them on cherry burl plaques for display – 10 on
the larger plaque (CL-31) and 5 on the smaller one (CL-32).
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- $185 (large one)
- $125 (small one)
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- (additional photo
below)
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