Backgammon Set — Walnut & Hornbeam

Backgammon (Nardi) is a full playing board carved entirely by hand by Armenian master Edgar Hovhannisyan — 317 hours of work in walnut and hornbeam. Every element except the dice is his alone: the drawings, the design, the idea, and the carving.

"This is the first backgammon (Nardi) after 18 years of pause. It took me 317 hours to be done this work. As always, I used walnut and hornbeam. Apart from the dice, everything was made by me: drawings, design, idea and, of course, carving. These are natural wood colors — I never use dyes or oils."

— Edgar Hovhannisyan

The closed board measures 64 × 34 × 6 cm (about 25" × 13½" × 2½"). The exterior carries a deep-carved interlaced rosette with a star center; inside, the playing points are carved as spears beneath Edgar's engraved maker's mark. Finished in clear polyurethane varnish, with hand-turned checkers and dice. Watch Edgar carve this board in the video at the end of the gallery.

A one-of-a-kind work — no two carvings are ever alike. From the Fine Art Carvings collection.