PROBABLY BURMESE THAI, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details

A SOUTH EAST ASIAN CARVED IVORY FIGURAL CHESS SET
PROBABLY BURMESE THAI, EARLY 19TH CENTURY
The kings each modelled kneeling holding ceremonial swords and wearing a rounded high hat, the generals modelled in peaked hats, holding an instrument, seated in a chair, the bishops as mounted elephants, the knights as horses, the rooks as juggernauts carrying temples, the pawns as kneeling figures with rifles, two later pawns
The king -- 3½ in. (9 cm.) high; the pawn -- 1¾ in. (4.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Sotheby's Belgravia, London 1981, lot 24

Literature

Hans & Barbara Holländer, Schach Partie Durch Zeiten und Welten, Museum Für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 2005, fig. 166, page 195.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

Several ivory Burmese chess sets are held in important collections, for example an ivory 18th Century example from the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and one donated by Major R.C Temple to the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford in 1894, acquired in Myanmar. It is noted in Asian Games The Art of Contest (page 164) that ivory sets are quite rare, typically stained red and left natural, with the chariot or juggernaut as a temple, both elephants and horses feature riders, and the king and vizer are typically seated. In this instance, the queen or general is seated in an Anglo chair of the early 19th Century style.

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