When opened, the interior is a backgammon board showing scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The top of the exterior forms a board for the game “Nine Men’s Morris”, surrounded by small decorative panels in white amber, whilst the underside of the exterior shows a chess board with busts in relief in white amber under translucent amber. Strips of ebony edge the board and silver mounts on mica adorn the corners. The hinged games board is constructed of wood, onto which amber panels have been affixed. oard following a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest ( RCEWA ), administered by Arts Council England, on the grounds of the board’s outstanding aesthetic importance. Ĭulture Minister Ed Vaizey took the decision to defer granting an export licence for the games b. , exquisitely crafted from amber ( sometimes called “Baltic Gold” ), ebony, silver and wood, has had a temporary export bar placed on it to provide a last chance to raise the £821, 500 needed to keep it in the UK. Possibly the most beautiful games board in the world is at risk of export

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