Chessmen (32) and box-board

Andreas Schluter, Danzig and the Court of Berlin|Friederich Donaleitis

late 18th century · Silver, silver-gilt · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The pieces and the board they came with were probably made by Friederich Donaleitis of Königsberg in 1778 from a seventeenth-century prototype. The bases are boldly engraved with numbers from 1 to 32 on the underside. It has been thought that the set represents the battle of Panormus (present-day Palermo), fought in 250 B.C. between the Romans under Metellus and the Carthiginians under Hasdrubal, but this is hypothetical. The subject of Romans and Barbarians was a popular one in all forms of art.

Artist

Andreas Schluter, Danzig and the Court of Berlin|Friederich Donaleitis

Date

late 18th century

Medium

Silver, silver-gilt

Culture

German

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, 1948