Overview

Between 1590 and 1620, many board game cassettes for Nine Men’s Morris, chess and backgammon were produced in the Prussian court sphere in Königsberg, marking an artistic high point in amber craftsmanship. This volume is the first to examine the context in which such precious objects were crafted against the backdrop of courtly (gaming) culture and dynastic alliance politics. The acquisition of a Königsberg board game cassette dating from 1607 by the German Historical Museum in 2021 provided an opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research into this culturally and historically significant subgroup of Prussian ‘amber diplomacy’. The 13 contributions to this volume present perspectives from art, cultural and economic history, bringing the Baltic Sea region to life as a strategic focal point of the period around 1600. First interdisciplinary study on Königsberg amber board game cassettes around 1600 New perspectives on a hitherto little-researched field of early-modern, luxury objects Exhibition: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, May 8, 2026 to October 31, 2027

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9783422804272

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Fritz Backhaus, Wolfgang Cortjaens, Thomas Weißbrich, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin With contributions by Valeria Butera, Wolfgang Cortjaens, Mathias Herrmann, Katharina Küster-Heise, Rahul Kulka, Markus Laufs, Ulrich Schädler, Antje Scherner, Verena Wasmuth, Klaus Weber, Thomas Weißbrich, Sabine Witt

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