Dan Fern (British, B. 1945) "Board Games" Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. The history of board games goes way back, with the royal tombs of ancient Ur holding the oldest gaming boards found so far. These early board games were played with pyramidal dice about 3000 B.C., and may have been a distant ancestor to modern backgammon. But as with chess and dominos, few of the board games with long and distinguished histories were designed specifically for the amusement of children. In fact, board games for pure youthful pleasure seem to have been a late development. It all began in the 1600s, when English philospher and economist John Locke nudged the concept of "teaching through sport" into the world's general consciousness. In time, the manufacturers of Great Britain seized upon the idea, producing educational jigsaw puzzles and games in which the pieces raced across maps of the world. Soon, more general recreational children's games were developed, and today many of the popular commercially produced children's board games are already several generations old. Snakes and Ladders, patented in 1870, is still played in Great Britain and many other countries of the world. Monopoly, patented in 1933, is also played in Great Britain and America by young and old alike -- one of the most popular commercially produced board games ever. However, the British version of Monopoly uses London street names rather than those of Atlantic City, N.J., USA. Image Size: 18.25 x 21.75 in. Overall Size: 20.25 x 22.75 in. Unframed. (B12019)