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“Ropetwist”  (England)

England. This set is a "Ropetwist" set, called so because of the decoration that simulates a twisted rope. In this set at the upper and lower side of the central drum of the King and Queen. Sometimes it is on rooks as well. Very often that name is, in my opinion mistakenly, used for ordinary "(plain) Barleycorn" sets with have a central drum looking like a coiled rope. On the other hand "Ropetwist" sets aren't recognized always as such. I think it is because these sets are extremely scarce. I have seen only a couple of them. Note that they are considered as (sub)type of "Barleycorn".

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  • England, "Ropetwist"
  • Mid 19th century
  • Bone (or ivory?) K 9.3; p 3.4
  • Box (chinese!) 13.8×11.4×9.1