Grand jeu de l'oie / Ganzenbord 1791 - 1900

This is a lithograph for a game board called "Grand Jeu de l'Oie" or "Game of the Goose," created by Pellerin & Cie. These types of games became popular in 18th and 19th century Europe. Looking at this image, we can see a circular track divided into numbered spaces, each adorned with colorful images. The game blends chance and strategy, with players advancing their tokens based on dice rolls, encountering obstacles, rewards, and penalties along the way. The imagery around the board, with its geese, taverns, bridges, and dungeons, provides a window into the cultural values and social norms of the time. As a historian, what interests me most is the public role of art. This game offers a space for social interaction and leisure, but how does it reflect the political structures of its day? What does it mean that a game features images of people in taverns and dungeons? Through archival research into popular culture, social games, and lithographic production, one might find clues about attitudes to class, criminality, and national identity at this time. The images in the game offer a glimpse into the visual world of the period, but that world is contingent on social and institutional contexts.