Crouching Women Playing Knucklebones

<p>The maidens are playing an ancient form of jacks, known as "astragalus" (knucklebones), a game in which five small animal bones were tossed into the air and caught on the back of the hand. The grouping of separate statuettes is almost unknown before Hellenistic times, when artists became fascinated both by the interaction of figures and by the challenge of representing complex poses, such as this crouching stance.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/VO.19 (48.303, 48.304)' rel='external'>Crouching Women Playing Knucklebones</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>