Framed Behind Glass, The Prince’s Quest, A Fairy Race Game

The Prince’s Quest – A Fairy Race GameChromolithographed board game, published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, LondonCirca 1890
Measures - 49 cm x 74 cm (framed) 
This illustrated board for The Prince’s Quest: A Fairy Race Game was produced during the late Victorian golden age of children’s games, when publishers created richly printed chromolithographed boards combining storytelling with simple race game mechanics. The board leads players through a fairy tale landscape filled with castles, wizards, dragons, enchanted forests and the Bower of Sleeping Beauty, reflecting the Victorian fascination with medieval romance and folklore that flourished in children’s literature of the period. Raphael Tuck & Sons, founded in London in 1866, became one of the most successful publishers of illustrated games, books and postcards in Britain, renowned for their elaborate colour printing and highly decorative designs. By the 1890s the company was exporting games and picture books across Europe and North America, and boards such as this formed part of a wider culture of imaginative nursery entertainment. Today these chromolithographed game boards are appreciated both as examples of Victorian graphic design and as playful historical objects that capture the richly illustrated world of late nineteenth century childhood.