Toys and Games

Artifacts from the Colonial Williamsburg Collection

Assortment of mostly nineteenth-century cast iron and copper alloy cannon barrels, copper alloy wagon wheel, and cast iron toy pistol.

Collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ceramic marbles. Although many marbles were made of simple unglazed clay like the ones at the bottom, some had a variety of colorful glazes.

Various pieces of miniature or play tea sets, including cups, teapots, saucers, and a soup tureen. Similar tea sets were available in Williamsburg shops, and milliners Sarah Pitt and Mary Dickinson advertised them for sale.

Musical toys referred to as “jaw harps.” Made of iron or copper alloy, these are missing the steel or brass reeds that were plucked to make music.

If you want to know more about toys and games in Williamsburg, see Colonial Virginians at Play, by Jane Carson, published by the University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1965.

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Toys in the Collection

Artifacts from the Colonial Williamsburg Collection