Indian Bone Playing Card

Two wrestlers lock up in the foreground while a bowman takes aim behind them.

This painted bone playing card is from India, and dates to the early 20th century. It is pigment & bone. Games with cards or tokens were played at courts and in homes across South Asia, and the pieces were sometimes made in costly materials for royal use. Round dark panel with dotted trim and small tufts of grass. Two men in loincloths grapple, one in orange and one in purple, while a third in red shorts draws a bow. Bundled clothes in blue and orange sit at the bottom. It is 1.75 inches in diameter.

Plenty of muscle, and one archer minding his own business.