The assembled pine box prior to sanding, staining, or painting.
Gluckshaus Game Box - An overhead view of the completed piece, showing the Gluckshaus Game Board.
Gluckshaus Game Box - A 3/4 view of the completed piece, showing the Sigil (pending) for Simont Merrick.
Gluckshaus Game Box - A 3/4 view of the completed piece, showing the Gluckshaus Game Board.
Gluckshaus Game Box - A 3/4 view of the completed piece, showing the Gluckshaus Game Board and accompanying contents.
Gluckshaus is a gambling game played with dice, played during the Renaissance throughout Europe. The game utilizes an often stylized board of either wood, chalk, or leather upon which bets are placed. I wanted to combine elements of a Gluckshaus game board with a box used to hold dice, coins, and game pieces for other games. An inspirational example of a game board is seen on a board dating from 1583 found in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
The game itself is similar to craps in that it utilizes two six-sided dice that players take turns rolling, with various number combinations determining the outcome, with slight rule variations depending on the region or rules agreed-upon by the players.
My piece is constructed of pine and painted with acrylic paint. Though the extant inspirational piece was constructed on beech wood using bismuth and tempura based paint, construction would have utilized whatever wood or artistic tools were readily available as other examples could be found made with ink, or printed on leather.
Box Construction: I hand-sawed 6 small planks of pine board to form the overall box shape, sized with the intention of having the lid be a removable double-sided component. On the interior of the two "side" boards I used a router to carve a channel that I could utilize to slide the lid in and out of place. The 4 walls and bottom of the box are held with wood glue. The assembled box was sanded to 220 grit and stained with a custom blend of red and walnut. I painted the Gluckhaus game board on one side of the removable lid and my (pending as of October 2020) sigil on the other side.
I've filled the box with hand-carved deer antler dice, coins, and pouch used to hold additional game components.
Board for the Glückshaus game, Upper German, 1583
Beech, painted with bismuth and tempera
Bavarian National Museum, Munich
The Game of Seven: Glückshaus and Related Dice Games
