Giochi dell'Oca e di percorso
(by Luigi Ciompi & Adrian Seville)
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Juego de la Oca 
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primo autore: Non indicato 
secondo autore: De Paluzie F. 
anno: 1857/1927 
luogo: Spagna-Barcellona 
periodo: XIX secolo (3°-4°/4) 
percorso: Percorso di 63 caselle numerate 
materiale: carta (paper) (papier) 
dimensioni: 280X387 
stampa: Cromolitografia 
luogo acquisto: Spagna-Barcellona 
data acquisto: 27-12-2007
dimensioni confezione:  
numero caselle: 63 
categoria: Oca 
tipo di gioco: Gioco Oca Classico (63 caselle) Orizzontale 
editore: Lith. H. de Paluzie, Barcelona n°923 
stampatore: Lith. H. de Paluzie, Barcelona n°923 
proprietario: Collezione L. Ciompi 
autore delle foto: L. Ciompi 
numero di catalogo: 441 
descrizione: Gioco di 63 caselle numerate, spirale, antiorario, centripeto.
REGOLE: al centro.
CASELLE: mute.

NOTA: Altro esemplare identico con in alto scritta: "Estamperia economica Paluzie"; in basso: "Imprenta Elzeviriana y Libreria Cami S. A., Calle Joaquin Costa 64 Barcelona".

REFERENZA 1
The Game of the Goose (Juego de la Oca) came to Spain towards the end of the 16th century, as a royal gift to Philip II, giving rise to the variant game of the Filosofia Cortesana invented by Alonso de Barros. It is not known whether the game that came to the Spanish Court was of the classic form, though the fact that the de Barros game is of 63 spaces arranged as an anticlockwise spiral in vertical format strongly suggests that it was, although the placement of hazards does not conform to the classic model. Also, only some but not all of the earliest surviving Spanish games dating from the 17th century that show the image of the goose on the favourable spaces are of the classic form. However, the classic game survives to the present day as a game for children that can be bought in Spanish toyshops, often printed in bold colours on a wooden board of square format, frequently having a version of Ludo for six players printed on the other side. The "reverse overthrow" rule is usually replaced by the rule that, beyond space 60, a single die is used. This greatly diminishes the excitement of the game since there is no possibility of reaching the death space and being required to start again. Spain does not seem to have shared in the transformation to thematic variants that occurred so remarkably in France from the middle of the 17th century, nor in the introduction of "monkey" games and "journey" games that became so popular in Germany from the end of the 18th century onwards. In Portugal a distinctive form of the game is the "Joco de Gloria", which employs an anticlockwise spiral track of 90 spaces, with the favourable spaces on 9, 18, 27 etc. The track length suggests that this is based on the Italian variants from the second half of the 19th century and indeed the earliest examples appear to date from that period. The Portuguese firm Majora, established in 1939, continues to supply modern versions of these games. Both Spain and Portugal are significant in the spread of games of the Goose type to the countries of Latin America, where they continue to be played.
The earliest Spanish Games of the Goose
Amades gives as the earliest Spanish Game of the Goose known to him a 17th-century Catalan example in the Municipal Museum of Barcelona (Arch. n°1440) . It is a rather crude wood-cut, with a rectangular spiral track of 141 numbered spaces plus the final un-numbered arch of the winning space. The geese are on two sequences of spaces numbered 5, 14, 23 etc to 131 and 9, 18, 27 etc to 126. No rules are given, so that it is not possible to interpret the hazard spaces definitively, though some of the traditional hazards are recognisable: the well, at 82; stylised labyrinth at 98; and a death's head at 138. There are however further hazards, such as a barrel at 51, a decanter and glass at 64 and a wine jar and glass at 127, suggesting that this was a drinking game. Dice spaces appear at 52 (for the 6, 3 throw of nine) and at 133 (for the 5, 4 throw). The final five spaces before the winning arch all have images and appear below a stylised garden with four trees. Amades notes that the ladder at space 119 leads to a space (140) that he interprets as Hell next to Purgatory (space 141 showing rudimentary human faces) which in turn is next to the sky (presumably the blank arch) which leads to the garden. He notes the figure hanging from a gibbet at space 135 and connects this with the path to Hell. A more plausible interpretation is to consider the final spaces as providing a connected narrative: prison (space 137), death, burning of a heretic, Hell, Purgatory, then Heaven as symbolised by the Paradise Garden.
A fascinating comparison is possible with another 17th-century game also noted by Amades (Arch. n°2582), of which he remarks that the central space is decorated with dancing figures that have nothing to do with the game: he speculates that the reward of the winner might be to dance with the girls or ladies of the party, though he gives no evidence for this. The final spaces correspond to those of the earlier game, except that spaces 127 and 128 reverse the order of the images.
By contrast, a second 17th-century woodblock conserved at the Impresa Guasp (Arch. n°2662) is in fact a classic Game of the Goose in all respects save one: the prison space at 52 shows a barrel, indicating that this too was a drinking game.
The centre space shows coins, indicating gambling, and also a walled garden. This is a clear representation of the Garden of Eden, as indicated by the four-fold division symbolising the mystic four rivers; the Tree of Life occupies one quarter.
Amades shows another 63-spaces Game of the Goose, this being a Catalan woodcut by Michael Homs of Gerona dating from the end of the 17th century; the block is conserved at the Imprenta Carreres. This is an absolutely classic game as far the arrangement and iconography of the active spaces are concerned; the rules are given in letterpress in the centre, under the heading "Declaration" and include the rule that from space 60 a single die is to be used. The incidental iconography is interesting: the winning space shows a portal internally studded with threatening spikes. The corner decorations include one showing a hooded figure with a sword in one hand fending off a large dog using a staff held in the other. Stylised birds, a dog evidently crawling through a barrel, and a drummer complete the remaining corners. This decorative scheme is essentially the same as that found in an 18th-century French woodcut "jeu de l'oie", by Leblond, rue de la Bonneterie, Avignon, though in this version the second dog appears to be wearing a cloth round his middle. The iconography of the active spaces does not correspond exactly with that of the Spanish version: for example, the bridge at spaces 6 has three piers instead of two, so these are not exact copies. The French print also gives rules, which include the usual reverse overthrow provision.
Amades notes that the first known example from Valencia is much later than the early Catalan examples. It dates from the middle of the 18th century and is an engraving by Laborde, Montpiè and Villalba (Arch. n°1439). It is a classic Game of the Goose; the rules, engraved in the centre, specify the use of a single die from space 60 onwards. The decorative scheme is much more refined than in the earlier woodcuts, including sprays of flowers and a goose holding a flower in its beak. The plate is very similar that used at the beginning of the 19th century by Casa Piferrer in Barcelona with the addition of their Plaza del Angel imprint at the foot, with minor differences in detail indicating that it was re-drawn. The games noted so far have had no decoration of non-active spaces in the track itself.
The earliest exception is noted by Amades as a mid-19th-century print by Juan B(autista) Vidal of Reus (Arch. n°1071). The track decorations show figures undertaking a remarkably-wide range of human activities: fishing, hunting with the rifle, walking in the countryside, a soldier marching with his rifle, playing cards and playing dice, harvesting, juggling and acrobatics, girls playing games (skipping, shuttlecock), a knight in armour, tending the vines, bird scaring, kneeling in church, etc. The rules are given in letterpress in the centre; interestingly, although there is a decanter and glass at space 10, the rules do not refer to it: perhaps it was allowed as a "drink" hazard only by agreement among the players. A dog's head at space 11 is similary not explained. However, the general decorative scheme indeed suggests a pubblication intended for young people: in one corner of the sheet, a boy and a girl are shown playing the Game of the Goose.
In the second half of the 19th century, lithographed games coloured by stencil became highly popular. Amades gives a fold-out plate reproducing a game by the Barcelona firm of F. Paluzie, bearing the publisher's catalogue number 923 (The publishing house Paluzie was founded in Barcelona in 1857 by Esteban Paluzie Cantalozella, and sold by his heirs around 1926 to the Elzeviriana Press, which kept the name of Estamperia Paluzie until the 1940s).
It is a classic Game of the Goose of horizontal format, decorated along the track with a similar but not identical range of human activities as noted above and, in the lower left corner, two Commedia dell'Arte figures playing the game. The rules in the centre make specific reference to reverse overthrows, and no mention of using a single die. However, the rule on landing at a goose appears to be that the player continues casting the dice until a space other than a goose is reached, rather than the normal take your points again rule. This game of horizontal format is very much in the style of lithographed French games of the period, including a central decoration of a goose swimming in a garden, though it is not an exact copy of a French original. Paluzie's games in horizontal formats of different sizes, always with bright colours, and with newly-drawn figures decorating the track, continued well into the 20thcentury. A competitor was Olivier Pinot, of Epinal, France, who produced a Spanish-language version of his jeu de l'oie, which was sold through the print shop of P. Vidal in Barcelona. Amades says, however, that this did not reach the level of popularity of the Paluzie games.

(Adrian Seville)

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  "Tradition and Variation in the Game of Goose" (A. Seville)
   
 
   
 
   

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