Lot Essay
This sculpture is based on chess pieces (queen, bishop and knight) which Ernst executed circa 1944. The bishop and knight also appear in Le roi jouant avec la reine, 1944 (cf. W. Spies, Max Ernst Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1939-1953, Cologne, 1987, pp. 85-86, nos. 2465-2465).