EARLY 19TH CENTURY AND LATER

Details

A CARVED BONE AND IVORY 'PULPIT' BUST TYPE CHESS SET
EARLY 19TH CENTURY AND LATER
The kings, queens and bishops carved in costume, the different pawns carved as various foot soliders and Classical busts, some ivory restorations, early 20th century, fitted within a later leatherette box marked G.SCHRIEBER 365 R.ST. HONORÉ, the box fitted with a folding games board, early 20th century
The king -- 4¼ in. (11 cm.) high; the pawn -- 2¼ in. (5.7 cm.) high

Provenance

By repute acquired from Galerie J. Kugel, Paris, 1926 The collection of the Late Ralph H. Wark, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Literature

Zug der Könige, Schachfiguren und Spiele aus vier Jahrhunderten Aust. Der Bayerischen Vereninsbank Chess Collectors International, Munich, 1988, cat. no. 28 Alex Hammond, The Book of Chessmen, 1950, page 151

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

The term 'Pulpit' has evolved to describe this type of set, the origins of which remain a mystery. Some chess historians considered the sets to be British and to date from 18th to the early 19th Centuries, possibly associated to the craft work produced by the Napoleonic prisoners of war. The style is highly distinctive: stylised stiff leaf galleries, pierced bodies, bone and walnut stained. This example is also fitted within a later box, stamped 'G. Schrieber', who was probably a Parisian retailer specialising in ivory and tortoiseshell games at the end of the 19th early 20th Century.

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