Chessmen (32) in box

1924

Not on view

The sphere, double cube, and three sizes of block, singly or combined, yield pieces that, despite their highly geometric stylization, are strongly suggestive of their rank or power. The bishops are clearly implied by the cross outline, and the rooks by the simple stablility of a cube. Most ingenious of all are the knights, formed of three double cubes joined in such a fashion that each face of the resulting form shows two cubes one above the other and a third on the side, an embodiment of the knight's move.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Chessmen (32) in box
Designer: Josef Hartwig (German, Munich 1880–1955 Frankfurt)
Date: 1924
Culture: German, Weimar
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: Height (each king, confirmed): 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm);
Height (each pawn, confirmed): 13/16 × 13/16 × 13/16 in. (2.1 × 2.1 × 2.1 cm)
Classification: Chess Sets
Credit Line: Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, 1948
Object Number: 48.174.64a–p, aa–pp, r
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

By Josef Hartwig

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Chess Set, Josef Hartwig German, Linden wood, glass, paper — Chess Set
Designer Josef Hartwig
Heinz Nösselt
ca. 1923

Reproduction of the Seal of Marburg in Hessen, 1290, Plaster, German — Reproduction of the Seal of Marburg in Hessen, 1290
German
late 19th–early 20th century

Chessmen (32), Robert Leach, Wood, American, probably Chicago, Illinois — Chessmen (32)
Robert Leach
20th century

Reproduction of the Seal of Landgraf Otto von Hessen, 1318, Plaster, German — Reproduction of the Seal of Landgraf Otto von Hessen, 1318
German
late 19th–early 20th century

Chessmen (32), Hurba'n, Wood, painted, Hungarian, Kolozvar — Chessmen (32)
Hurba'n
ca. 1928

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