Description

This extremely rare separately published print with a Game of the Goose, was published by a Catalan printer Ignacio Estivill in Barcelona.

The Game of the Goose or Goose game (German: Gänsespiel, Jeu de l’oie, Italian: Gioco dell’oca; Spanish: Juego de la oca, Dutch: Ganzenbord) is a prototype of most of the board games known today. Its origins are unknown. After some theories it was invented in Germany in the 15th century. It was already known in the 16th century, when it was given a gift from Francesco I de’ Medici of Florence to King Philip II of Spain sometime between 1574 and 1587.

It continued being a game of nobility until almost 19th century, when it found its way into wider population through popular prints. Only in the late 19th century it started being made also as game for children.

This is a very early example of a Catalan Game of the Goose, made by a Barcelona based publisher and printer Ignacio Estivill. Estivill was specialised in popular wood-cuts and books with illustrations, published mostly in the second quarter of the 19th century.

We could not trace any other examples of this broadside on the market or in the institutions. A print is mentioned without a reproduction in: Duran-Sanpere, Grabados populares Espanoles, p. 47.