Chessmen (32) and box
This set was the prize at a chess tournament between the cities of Aachen and Leipzig in 1887. The glass-topped box has a paper label reading: "Zur Erinnerung an die 3 Schachparthien zwischen Aachen & Leipzig vom 16/11 84 - 9/8 85" [In memory of three chess matches between Aachen and Leipzig from November 16, 1884, to August 9, 1885]. The winner of the matches was Leipzig. Germany produced a number of these elegantly made chess sets, usually of wood, but occasionally of ivory. Even more fragile chessmen were made in Denmark. A set in the Danish Museum of Industrial Art has "crow's nests" of lacy forms and twisting stems of triple "threads." A peculiarity with the knight is the development of two addorsed horse heads, a form that goes back to the early seventeenth century. In some sets there is nothing to indicate that the piece is associated with a horse, and it is distinguished by an incomplete ruff, or a cut aslant. This design occurs as early as the 17th century.
Artwork Details
- Title: Chessmen (32) and box
- Date: ca. 1885
- Culture: German
- Medium: Olive wood; leather, glass
- Dimensions: Height (each queen): 2 3/4 in. (7 cm);
Height (each king): 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm);
Height (each bishop): 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm);
Height (each knight): 2 3/8 in. (6 cm);
Height (each rook): 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm);
Height (each pawn): 2 in. (5.1 cm);
Overall (original box): 1 3/4 × 12 1/2 × 10 1/4 in. (4.4 × 31.8 × 26 cm) - Classification: Chess Sets
- Credit Line: Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, 1948
- Object Number: 48.174.16a–p, aa–pp, r
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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German, probably Berlin
ca. 1830
Carl von Scheidt
1816
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1828
Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin
1820–25
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Werner & Mieth, Berlin
ca. 1810
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