Game board

The game we recognize as Parcheesi is based on Pachisi, India's national game, which is believed to be thousands of years old. Various simplified versions of this game appeared in both Europe and the United States during the late 19th century. People loved the game so much that many constructed their own game boards in order to play. Today some of these early game boards are recognized as folk art designs. The path of the players' pieces creates an abstract design while the starting spaces and the home circle often contain decorative elements. This particular board may be an unusual example. Bold colors mark the path and the four figures are clearly meant to be African-Americans. A white cottage marks the home space, and the entire painting is made on a re-used board taken from some other source. It may have been a drawing board or a bread board.