Chessmen
Unknown
ca. 1850–60 and 1783 · Silver, silver gilt · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
The principal pieces are similar on each side, with poets carrying scrolls for bishops. The knights are horses that emerge at the haunches with forelegs raised in a prancing attitude. The castles seem disproportionately large to the rest of the major pieces. Pawns are peasant girls on the silver side and young men on the gold side. The bases are marked "13-1783," the Viennese silver warranty mark for 1783. The mark applies to the bases only; the figural parts are of the nineteenth century.
- Artist
- Unknown
- Date
- ca. 1850–60 and 1783
- Medium
- Silver, silver gilt
- Culture
- Austrian, Vienna
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, 1948
