Chess Piece, King

Chess Piece, King


This marvered glass piece exemplifies the classic Islamic design of a king. This may originally have been in the shape of a human figure seated on a throne, but such a design was abstracted early on into this shape, with its distinctive double-humped profile. Kings of a similar form were produced in Iran perhaps as early as the 9th century.[101]

William Greenwood in [Greenwood 2014]

Footnotes:

See Gunther, A. (2004). Chess and its visual culture in west, south, and southeast Asia. In C. MacKenzie and I. Finkel, eds. Asian Games: The Art of Contest. New York, Asia Society, p. 151, nos. 12:16 and 12:18.

Marking: Stickers below base:
- white rectangular sticker: in black ink: G1779 / illegible
- yellow circular sticker: in black ink: 402
- white circular sticker in red ink: 4
- white rectangular sticker in black ink

[ Saeed Motamed, Frankfurt, until 1972; sold to MMA]

Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 68.

New York. Asia Society. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," October 14, 2004–January 18, 2005, no. 12:17.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," February 26, 2005–May 15, 2005, no. 12:17.

Middlebury College Museum of Art. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," September 8, 2005–December 11, 2005, no. 12:17.

Doha. Museum of Islamic Art, Doha. "Kings & Pawns," March 18, 2014–June 21, 2014.

Ettinghausen, Richard. "Islamic Art." MMA Bulletin vol. 33, no. 1 (Spring 1975). p. 47, ill. (b/w).

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Islamic Glass: A Brief History." MMA Bulletin vol. 44, no. 2 (Fall 1986). p. 52, ill. fig. 63 (color).

Greenwood, WIlliam. "Board Games from India to Spain." In Kings & Pawns. Doha, Qatar: Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, 2014. pp. 96–97, ill. p. 97.

Fahid, Deborah Freeman. Chess and Other Games Pieces from Islamic Lands. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2018. p. 321.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahli, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 68, pp. 180–81, ill. (b/w).

Carboni, Stefano. "Chessmen in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Scacchi e Scienze Applicate suppl. no. 7, fasc. 15 (1996). p. 5, ill. (b/w) .

Mackenzie, Colin, and Irving Finkel, ed. Asian Games. The Art of Contest. New York: Asia Society, 2004. no. 12:17, p. 151, ill. (color).