Gaming Counter with the Arms of Tower
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The unusual “fish” shape is noticed first when looking at this counter. Armorial fishes were rare, produced exclusively between 1720 and 1740. Fish counters were among the first produced due to the single-sided crest and lack of scales. Fish counters produced after 1740 had considerably more scales[i]. No one knows for sure why the fish were created, but some speculate that it was due to linguistic miscommunication. In French, the word for counter is “fiche”, and a French trader may have ordered a set of “fishes” and received fishes instead[ii].
This counter was made for a member of the Tower family indicated by the tower in the center of the arms. Some arms were designed as a pun on the family name and to quickly identify their owners. This specific counter was made for either Christopher Tower Jr. of Huntsmoor Park or his brother, Thomas Tower. Christopher attended Oxford University[iii] and, along with his brother Thomas Tower, were “consistent government supporters, (who) were granted lucrative posts of auditor of the imprest , which they never enjoyed,”[iv].
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