Chess Piece, King

Unknown

11th–12th century · Ivory; carved · Islamic Art

Caliphal decrees prohibited the playing of chess (the pieces of which are customarily figural) for iconoclastic reasons as early as the eighth century. It is likely that chess pieces of the abstract type, such as those exhibited here, replaced the figural ones in order to circumvent those decrees.

Artist

Unknown

Date

11th–12th century

Medium

Ivory; carved

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Pfeiffer Fund, 1972