Luxury Village Scene Walnut Backgammon Set with Ararat Outline

Luxury Village Scene Walnut Backgammon Set with Ararat Outline by Hrachya Ohanyan

An Armenian village day in deep relief: a woman swinging a butter churn slung from a tree, another at her spinning wheel, a stone house, sheep and a church under Ararat's peaks. This is the 60 cm / 23.6″ luxury Armenian wooden backgammon set made by Hrachya Ohanyan, Ararat outline. Handmade in walnut and hornbeam, 32 checkers, dice, branded case.

This is the board for the family whose grandmother churned butter like this, the diaspora house that wants the village on the table, and the player who wants a whole picture, not a motif. Everything is cut in the round: the khnotsi on its ropes, the wheel with its spokes, the women's headscarves and skirts, a jug on the ground, the stones of the house, leaves on the trees, the church spire far off. Rococo scrolls frame it and the snow ridges of Ararat rise off the top edge.

Inside, pale hornbeam points are let into the walnut with fleur-de-lys tips, a petal wheel sits on a pale hornbeam disc in a scroll ring on each half, and a stamped brass hinge holds the bar; the back is a chequerboard of carved basket-weave squares between scroll panels. For the fiftieth, the house that left the village, and the player who wants the old country under the dice.

Specifications

• Size open: 60 × 60 cm / 23.6″ × 23.6″
• Size folded: 60 × 30 cm / 23.6″ × 11.8″
• Material: walnut wood, natural colour, finished with natural beeswax; hornbeam inlay inside
• Carving: a village scene in deep relief — a woman swinging a khnotsi butter churn hung from a tree, a woman at a spinning wheel, a jug, a stone house, a fenced field with sheep, trees and a church spire — inside a frame of rococo C-scrolls, with lattice and rope-and-bead borders; the twin peaks of Mount Ararat with snow ridges carved on the top edge; back cover with a chequerboard of carved basket-weave squares between scroll panels; pale hornbeam points and petal-wheel discs inlaid inside
• Outline: Ararat — the twin peaks of Mount Ararat along the top edge, over a scrolled body with curled corners
• Hardware: brass hinge stamped with the maker's mark, cast-bronze clasps
• Craftsmanship: entirely handmade by Hrachya Ohanyan

What's Included

• Hand-carved backgammon board, carved on both covers
• 32 beech and walnut checkers with velvet bases
• Dice set cut from billiard balls
• Branded carrying case

Why You'll Love It

• A whole village on the lid: two figures, a churn, a wheel, a house, sheep, trees and a church, each cut with its own depth, so the scene reads like a page from a picture book.
• Ararat on the rim, hornbeam inside: the mountain is carved into the top edge and the pale points are a second wood let into the walnut — the two things that mark the top of this maker's range.
• Make it theirs: add a name or a date at checkout to mark a birthday, a retirement or years of games together.

Good to Know Before You Buy

What is the woman doing with the barrel? Churning butter. The barrel is a khnotsi, the traditional Armenian churn: a wooden vessel hung from a branch by ropes and swung back and forth until the cream turns. Beside her a second woman spins wool on a wheel. Both are carved in deep relief into walnut, the pale points inside are hornbeam let into the wood, and the surface is finished with natural beeswax. Nothing is printed or applied.

What about shipping and returns? Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Europe, always tracked; other countries pay a flat $100 (Brazil, Chile and New Zealand $200). Every set is covered by our 30-day returns policy.

How do I look after it? Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators. Wipe with a dry, soft cloth and store it closed in its carrying case.

About the Artist - Hrachya Ohanyan

National Master Hrachya Ohanyan began his fine woodcraft in 1985 and founded his workshop in Yerevan in 2010. This board belongs to his collection of wooden backgammon sets, each one made by hand by the craftspeople of that workshop. Read Hrachya Ohanyan's story or explore the full backgammon collection.

Also known as nardi (нарды), nardy, tavla or shesh besh.