A Spanish Colonial ivory, Mother-of-Pearl and tortoiseshell inlaid partially ebonized gilt bronze-mounted Gamesboard late 17th/early 18th century, probably Mexican

the exterior inlaid with checkers on one side and Nine Man's Morris on the other, the edges with continuous diamond and triangle pattern and mounted with three gilt bronze hinges engraved with arabesques, the interior with a backgammon board embellished with further marquetry designs.  Together with 14 turned ivory and 14 turned ebony draughtsmen.

Furniture elaborately inlaid with mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, called meuble enconchado, originated in the Spanish Philippines in the early 17th century. The prototype was a wedding gift made for the grand-daughter of the Viceroy of Peru and is now in the Dallas Museum of Art. See H. Hayward, World Furniture, New York, 1965, p. 106, fig.371.  Subsequently, tables, varguenos, caskets and gamesboards were made using these very specific repeated motifs including geometric shapes, stylized leaves and arabesques.