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拍品专文
Basée sur la côte sud-est de la mer Baltique, Königsberg, siège de la Cour de Prusse, était la principale source d’ambre en Europe. Apprécié pour sa beauté naturelle et sa rareté, l’ambre était utilisé pour créer de magnifiques objets d’art, tel que l’échiquier ici présent, destinés à la noblesse ou échangés comme cadeaux diplomatiques. La juxtaposition d’ambre nuageux et orange translucide est caractéristique des objets en ambre du Nord-est de l’Allemagne, produits à Königsberg et Dantzig.
L’échiquier se compose de cases d’ambre transparent ou opaque et de cabochons polis à l’avant et gravés à l’arrière selon la technique de l’intaille. Ces remarquables représentations d’animaux, de scènes rurales idylliques, de marines et de ports s’animent à travers l’ambre transparent selon la source de lumière qui les touche. L’échiquier, resplendissant avec son jeu complet de pièces d’échec, constitue l’un des rares exemples de ce type d’œuvre. Un exemple d’échiquier provenant de la même région, avec un ambre plus jaune, est conservé au musée de l’Ermitage à Saint-Pétersbourg, Russie (Coppinger, loc. cit.).
Lord George Murray (1694-1760) était le sixième fils de John Murray, premier duc d’Atholl. Contre la volonté de son père, Lord Murray participe à la rébellion jacobite de 1715, dans le but de rendre le trône de Grande-Bretagne à James VII d’Ecosse et II d’Angleterre après qu’il ait été renversé par le Parlement durant la Révolution Glorieuse. La révolte échoue mais Murray épouse de nouveau la cause jacobite quand il rencontre Charles Edward Stuart (le beau Prince Charlie), fils du prince Jacques, à Blair Castle en 1745. L’aide de camp de Murray, James Chevalier de Jonhstone, a alors déclaré que « si le Prince Charles avait dormi durant toute l’expédition, et laissé Lord George Murray agir selon son propre jugement, il aurait trouvé la couronne de Grande-Bretagne sur sa tête à son réveil. ». La révolte échoue de nouveau et Murray est contraint de s’exiler sur le continent, duquel il envoie l’échiquier ici présent à sa femme et à son fils, futur troisième duc d’Atholl.
Based on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic sea, Königsberg, the seat of the Prussian court, was Europe's leading source of amber. Prized for its natural beauty and rarity, amber was used to create beautiful works of art, such as the present chessboard, which would then be sold to the nobility, or exchanged as diplomatic gifts. The juxtaposition of cream and translucent orange amber was characteristic of amber wares in North East Germany, in both Königsberg and nearby Danzig.
Decorating the chessboard are both square and cabochon plates of transparent amber, which were polished smooth on the front and engraved in the intaglio technique on the back. These striking depictions of animals, idyllic rural scenes, marine pieces and port scenes, shine through the clear amber depending upon the source of light striking them. The board is resplendent with a full set of chess pieces. Due to the brittle nature of amber, probably only a small number of chess sets were ever made in this material. A chessboard from the same region, with a more yellow amber, is in the Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Russia (C. Coppinger, loc. cit.).
Lord George Murray (1694-1760) was the sixth son of John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl. Against his father's wishes, Lord Murray took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, with the aim of returning James VII of Scotland and II of England to the throne of Great Britain after he had been deposed by Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. Following the collapse of the uprising, Murray escaped with his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, to South Uist, and thence to France. He returned to the Scottish Highlands, where in 1719 he was wounded commanding the Jacobite right wing in the Battle of Glenshiel on 10 June. Murray was initially sceptical of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) but when Charles was at Blair Castle in 1745, Murray publically espoused the Jacobite cause again, and re-joined the army becoming commander-in-chief. Murray's aide-de-camp, James Chevalier de Johnstone, famously pronounced, "had Prince Charles slept during the whole of the expedition, and allowed Lord George Murray to act for him according to his own judgment, he would have found the crown of Great Britain on his head when he awoke." Following the defeat, Murray escaped to the continent, from where he sent the present chessboard from Amsterdam to his wife and son, who later became the 3rd Duke of Atholl, in 1758. He died in Medemblik, Holland, in October 1760.
L’échiquier se compose de cases d’ambre transparent ou opaque et de cabochons polis à l’avant et gravés à l’arrière selon la technique de l’intaille. Ces remarquables représentations d’animaux, de scènes rurales idylliques, de marines et de ports s’animent à travers l’ambre transparent selon la source de lumière qui les touche. L’échiquier, resplendissant avec son jeu complet de pièces d’échec, constitue l’un des rares exemples de ce type d’œuvre. Un exemple d’échiquier provenant de la même région, avec un ambre plus jaune, est conservé au musée de l’Ermitage à Saint-Pétersbourg, Russie (Coppinger, loc. cit.).
Lord George Murray (1694-1760) était le sixième fils de John Murray, premier duc d’Atholl. Contre la volonté de son père, Lord Murray participe à la rébellion jacobite de 1715, dans le but de rendre le trône de Grande-Bretagne à James VII d’Ecosse et II d’Angleterre après qu’il ait été renversé par le Parlement durant la Révolution Glorieuse. La révolte échoue mais Murray épouse de nouveau la cause jacobite quand il rencontre Charles Edward Stuart (le beau Prince Charlie), fils du prince Jacques, à Blair Castle en 1745. L’aide de camp de Murray, James Chevalier de Jonhstone, a alors déclaré que « si le Prince Charles avait dormi durant toute l’expédition, et laissé Lord George Murray agir selon son propre jugement, il aurait trouvé la couronne de Grande-Bretagne sur sa tête à son réveil. ». La révolte échoue de nouveau et Murray est contraint de s’exiler sur le continent, duquel il envoie l’échiquier ici présent à sa femme et à son fils, futur troisième duc d’Atholl.
Based on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic sea, Königsberg, the seat of the Prussian court, was Europe's leading source of amber. Prized for its natural beauty and rarity, amber was used to create beautiful works of art, such as the present chessboard, which would then be sold to the nobility, or exchanged as diplomatic gifts. The juxtaposition of cream and translucent orange amber was characteristic of amber wares in North East Germany, in both Königsberg and nearby Danzig.
Decorating the chessboard are both square and cabochon plates of transparent amber, which were polished smooth on the front and engraved in the intaglio technique on the back. These striking depictions of animals, idyllic rural scenes, marine pieces and port scenes, shine through the clear amber depending upon the source of light striking them. The board is resplendent with a full set of chess pieces. Due to the brittle nature of amber, probably only a small number of chess sets were ever made in this material. A chessboard from the same region, with a more yellow amber, is in the Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Russia (C. Coppinger, loc. cit.).
Lord George Murray (1694-1760) was the sixth son of John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl. Against his father's wishes, Lord Murray took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, with the aim of returning James VII of Scotland and II of England to the throne of Great Britain after he had been deposed by Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. Following the collapse of the uprising, Murray escaped with his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, to South Uist, and thence to France. He returned to the Scottish Highlands, where in 1719 he was wounded commanding the Jacobite right wing in the Battle of Glenshiel on 10 June. Murray was initially sceptical of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) but when Charles was at Blair Castle in 1745, Murray publically espoused the Jacobite cause again, and re-joined the army becoming commander-in-chief. Murray's aide-de-camp, James Chevalier de Johnstone, famously pronounced, "had Prince Charles slept during the whole of the expedition, and allowed Lord George Murray to act for him according to his own judgment, he would have found the crown of Great Britain on his head when he awoke." Following the defeat, Murray escaped to the continent, from where he sent the present chessboard from Amsterdam to his wife and son, who later became the 3rd Duke of Atholl, in 1758. He died in Medemblik, Holland, in October 1760.