Chessmen (32)

Unknown

second half 18th century · Bone · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The king, queen, knight, and bishop are busts with almost no shoulders, fixed at the closed base of a circular gallery that extends halfway up their height. The gallery is finished with a row of upright leaves. The rook is a higher gallery narrowing toward the top, ending with a ring of four crenelations and topped by a small central knob. The pawns are half-figures, again with almost no shoulders, fixed to a baluster on a short stand. This type of chessman, with encircling galleries of vertical leaves, has been popular in Spain. The galleries in the simpler sets enclose symbols, miters and conventional substitutions for crowns, rather than busts.

Artist

Unknown

Date

second half 18th century

Medium

Bone

Culture

Portuguese

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, 1948