.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
A similar Austrian carved fir set, dated from the second half 19th century, is illustrated in A Selection from the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1968, plate 63. Victor Keats, The Illustrated Guide to World Chess Sets, Batsford Ltd 1985, plate 91 also discusses this theme, inspired by the threat of the Turks invading the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The yellow stained pieces have appropriated Hungarian inspired military attire where as the black side or 'Turks' have been typecast as tribesmen wearing feather-headresses.
These sets also derive some characteristics from eighteenth century examples, such as the rook modelled as an elephant bearing either a tower or turret. Since Antiquity elephants have been regarded as symbols of good fortune, strength and nobility. East Asian and Chinese art regularly features the elephant and from the end of the 17th century European fashion had an insatiable desire for Oriental exotica, including models of porcelain elephants.
These sets also derive some characteristics from eighteenth century examples, such as the rook modelled as an elephant bearing either a tower or turret. Since Antiquity elephants have been regarded as symbols of good fortune, strength and nobility. East Asian and Chinese art regularly features the elephant and from the end of the 17th century European fashion had an insatiable desire for Oriental exotica, including models of porcelain elephants.