COLLECTORS' BLUE BOOKS
Chess Sets F. LANIER GRAHAM
Chess Sets by F. Lanier Graham No GAME HAS so LONG and rich a history as chess; more has been written about it than any other game. Curiously, however, little has been written about chesspieces. This profusely illustrated volume explores the evolution and development of the "tools" of the great game from the fifth through the twentieth century. F. Lanier Graham, As sistant Curator, Department of Architec ture and Design of The Museum of Morlern Art, provides a history of chess through his discussion of the design and meaning of the pieces, and thus presents a fascinating sub ject from a new vantage point. Of particu lar interest is the section on the more im portant modern sets, which presents Mr. Graham's view that contemporary designs offer a new reality to the ancient and re vered game.
JACKET ILLUSTRATION: Selected chesspieces by Max Ernst from set designed in 1944. Clockwise -Knight, Bishop, Pawn, Queen. Collection William
N.
Copley.
To "tvlarccl Duchamp
" -'" ,
�.
,
l� 0
>
---'.
"
.�
t, .-
":::�::":
..,
ai,
-
•
... �
j
-! ..
6;-' ._. \ ,� .;. l!I
:L· ..
.. .. ..
\
COLLECTORS' BLUE BOOKS
Chess Sets
F. LANIER GRAHAM
WALKER AND COMPA.'\Y, NEW YORK
JJoward Staunton
FRO::\lTISPIEGF;
(?;'.
Designs for "The Staunton Chessmen," 1839 :: n, Black and yellow \vatercolor,
16
x
10
in. R eproduced by kind pt'rmis
sion ofJ.Jaques & Sons Ltd" London. Page 6: FIG,
I
Indian model:
Arabic based on an King
( Shah ),
8th-g1h
ct'ntury. Ivory, b l/8 in. high. Cabinet dcs Medaillc�. Pari�.
Copyright
,{:;
196B by F. Laniet Graham
All rights reserved. No part of this book may bt' rt'product'd or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or me.chanical,
including
photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from t.he Publi�her. Library of Congress Catalog Card Num ber: 68-14237 Published simult.aneously in Canada by
The Ryerson Press, Toronto Printed in the Ln ited States of America
ACKNOWLEDGF.M F.NTS EVERY STUDENT
owes an immeasura ble cleot co the work of H.J. R. I\1urray, whose mo n umental History ofChej·�· of 1913 remains the au thoritative s t ud y . For a tho rough examination ofmt:u.ievaI piece� in Chess, pub lisheu in 1960) I am indehted to Hans and Siegfried \·Vichmann. For discussing particular hi�t()ric:a l q ues tio ns "\t-ith me, I am gr ate hll to \'Villiam �. Co pl ey , rvrarcel Duchamp, AI Horo\vitz, A. E. J. f\.1ackett-Reeson, Julien Levy, and Charles K. \Vilkinson. To the extent that I ha ve tried to place the development oCchess sets \vithin the broader scope of history: I O\ve a speci al debt to Profes so rs C. VVilliam Kerr and lYfeycr Schapiro. For help in gath e ring material for this book, I would like to thank Alfred H. Harr, Jr., Betsy Jo n es, Kynas to n L. 1\:tcShinc, Dorothy C. r..:Jiller, Ludwig (;'lacsef, \/'Ir'illiam S. Rubin, and Jame.s Thrall So by , and all those \ .... ho allowed their material to be studied and reproduced. Jessie :r\'lc�ab D�nnis of The rVlct ropolitan I\:!useurn of Art) Pir.rre Gc orgal of the :!\-1 usee du Louvre , Rita Reif of ike }\few rurk Times, Franr.is Salet of the �"[us�e de Cluny, Richard Tooke of The rvfus�um of 1vfodern Art, and P. J. Chester of Oxford Uni� versity Press vvere particularly he lpful. ] \.vuuld also lik� to thank Geoffrey Clernenls, Jame s 1--Iathc\vs, and espe cially Stan Ries for their photography and pat ien ce , andJoseph B. Del Valle for designing the hook under difficult circumstances. Above alJ, I would like to express my grati tu de to M : ildred Constantine who suggested the book, Joan Vass ...vhose tireless editorial assistance has made the book possible, Judilh K n ipe , he:r :;eeretary, an d Jo)' Feinberg, my secretary, for their fortitude and good spirit.:;, Rob ert Caples fur his constant encouragc rnenl uel\o....een our chr.ss games, and Rosemary, my understanding \....ife. 01' CHt:SS
history
TERMINOLOGY THE
for the illustrations,
the si ngle
dimension refers to the h eight of the tallest piec e in the picture, usu al ly the King. The identificalion of piec� follow, th e standard abbrevi a t ion" King (K), Queen (Q), Bishop (B), Knight (Kt), Ca stle or Rook (C), Pawn ( P ) . The term "Castle" i, used rather than "Rook" bccaw;e the rne ani ng of "Rook" is uncertain to most scholars, unknown to most players, and its usage seems ineon:;istent with the na mes of the other pieces, which unif ormly derive from medif:val European history. F. L. C. June, '968 l�
CAPTIONS
9 T I
lKTRODUCTION CHAPTER I
India:
Origins of the Game
13
CHAPTER II
Persia and Arabia:
Naturalism and Abstraction �I
CHAPTER III
Early Europe: Romancsque Naturalism Gothic Na/ural£sm kIedieval.1bstraction
39
CHAPTER IV
Later
Europe: Renaissance Resolution Rococo Dissolution }oleo-Classic Restoration
�Q �l"
CHAPTER V
Twentieth
Century:
Dada and Hveryday Objects Surrealism and Irrational Images Bauhaus and Functional Forms
Sf
CHAPTER VI
Conc lus ion
Selected
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION CHESS IS
A GAMe
APART. It has n o peers. For more than a thousand years its
unique qualities ha ve been p arti cularly attractive to minds that enjoy the
pleasures ofabstracl t hought.
No other game has so long and rich a history. The origins of che.."s lie buried
in the myths of ancient Asia. The poetry il has illspired-li'om The Arabian
�IVi,l!,hls to the troubadours, from the a library. The illuminated chess as a themt:
Symbolists
m anuscripts
could fill a museum.
in every cou ntry on earth.
,
in the Surrealists-could fill
prints and paintings that have used
In one form or another, chess is played
l\,:fore has bce.n ,,,-'rittcn about chess than all other games
combined.
Ho",.'
ev er, very little has been written about chess sel<;, They have: be:en passed over
as "tools" ofthe more important "game." This book is devoted to the: neglected
instruments themselves, those molded piec es of material that arc the most concrete expressions of the game.
A chesspiece is a tool. To understand it v isually , as a de sign, it IIlUSt be
c onsidered as a tool \vith a p articular nature.
In one aspect, it i:; a tool iII the
usual sense; it is h e ld and moved and used to do \vork. But the \vork it docs is more abstr"act (han
physical
,
so its structural requirements
arc
slight. It is
used not to turn screws or hammer nails but to exert an imaginary force within
the world of the game. Therefore, as a design, a chess piece is primarily all arti c ulat ed image
nf i nvested
po\",'er.
Tn this brief survey, the manner in \vhich the abstract pO\'\'er ofehesspieces
has been articulated into actua l images, and shaped i nto a coherent formal system of useful
obj ect s
through the twentieth
)
\..."ill be traced rrom the earliest �llrvi\'ing
century. Bc=:c:allse:
examples
the figurative tradition within the
history of chcs� sets has been fairly well puhlished, this hook is
an
effort to
e lucidal e the lesser known tradition s of "conventional" and austract design.
H(;. :.!
Front vit...... of King shmvn in Figure I.
FIC.
3
Arabic: Kt, K, Q� C, n. 8th-gth centulY. Bone, [�I:B in. high. Germanisches
Nationalmuseum: Nuremberg.
CHAPTER I
India:
Or(gins of the Game
THE ANCESTRY OF CIIESS
is older than recorded
h isto ry . �'lore than five thousand
years ago, )J'eoJithic cultures played games on a surface delineated by sq u ares .
Archeologists have uncovered gaming boards and pieces in Egyptian tombs as old as the predynastic period (ca. �1000 H,C.). The forms ofthcse ancient pla ying; p ieces hear a striking rcsem u!arll:e Lo actual ch�sspicccs that dc� veloped many centuries later. One group from the Eighteenth Dynasty tomb of
Queen
Ha t s hepsut
pieces, sim i la r to
(1495-''1-75 n,c.) includes not only
mo d ern
s imple abstrac t
Pawns, but pie<.:t's carved in the shape of an animal
head) foreshadowing the form of the modern Knight. The games in which sllch pieces \yere used, however, '..'ere games of chance in which the moves ,vere determined by a drop of sticks
Or' a
roll of dice. There is a considerable
diHcrcnce bet''v'een the priTlciple� of these elementary board games
and
t he
sophisticated complexities of chess.
�hessitselfbcgan in nol"lh"veslindia. Someone (pcrhaps a G upta Buddh ist) ,
discontem with games ofchance, created a game in which ea c h player decided for h im sel f \"·:hic:h moves to make.
In
that brief historical moment of human
istic resolu tion, the "principle of fate" was replaced by the "principle of human ,vi11," and the game of chess was born. Chess \vas conceived as a game of war. The simple playing pieces on the traditional ashtap ada gaming board
vv e re
replaced by miniature symbols
representing Lhe separate parts of the Indian army. \'Vith d ifferent names and moving powers: these symbolic figures l i ne d up on the board in the same ordf:r as modern chesspi ec:es. Facing one another across a board of six ty-fo ur equal squares
'......ue
chariot, horse, elephant, king, counselor, elephan t ) horse,
chariot, each side behind its rank of foot soldiers. The ex act. date of the
development
of chess has tl o t been d etermined .
It
may he a<;;sumed that chess did nut exist in 326 B.C.: at which time Alexander the CreaL defea ted the Indians.
Indeed ,
there is no evidence that the game
eve,' was played in ancient Creece. )'1oreover, t here Sanskrit literature before ahout A.D.
000.
is
no mention of chess in
Hut it is knm·vn thal Persians learned
12
I.:-;DJA
of the game in the middle of the sixth century. Allowing enough time for the game to have developed, one may be reasonably certain that some form or chess existed in nortin-vest India during at least the earlier part orihe sixth or latter part of the fifth century.
FIG.4
Persian (Nishapur): Top: P, Kt, C P; Middle: C, B, 13, C; nottom: K, Q, Q,
C. Early 9th century. Ivory, some stained green, n:� in. high. The :\1etropolitan Mu seum of Art, New York, Excavations of the l\:fuseuill.' 1937-;38, Rogers Fund.
CHAPTER H
Persia and Arabia: Naturalism and Abstraction
PERSIA lE/\RNF,n CHESS FRO\1 INDIA
during the: r�ign of King Khusrau 1(531-
578). By the early seventh century, \vhen the Persian romance JCarnamak \va s written) t.he game had become so pop ular and highly regarded that the author could list chess as one of the accomplishments of Ardashir, the third-century founder of the Sasanian !donarchy.
No c hesspieces survive from the first tWf.) or three centuries of the game. HO\....evtr, pre-�fllslirn li lerar y descriptions and pmt-lVluslim formal charac teristics indic(:l le that t he eady Indian and Persian s�ts were pictorial, ,....ith
nat.uralistic figu re s rep rese nting- the names of the pieces. One kIlo\vn piece, an daborately carved ivory King (Figs. 1, 2), �ur\'ives to suggest what the earliest p ieces may have looked like. The c harac ter of th� form is Indian. But the curious Arabic iIlSuipriuJl has caused considerable: controversy as to when
it 5 houJd be daleu. Ivlosl mudern authorit ies place it bet\vecn the eight h and
ninth centuries. If' this conclusion is valid, thc King may be the ulde�t che�s piece in existence.
The Arabs did not play chess in the time of Muhammad the Prophet (5706:�2). Hut after the l\luslim conquest of Persia (u38-65 J), chess spr ead quickly. \Vithin a hundred years, Arabs 'vvere playing on their p ractical roll-up :�iJoards" of cloth or leather, throughollt their extraordinary empire, \'Iihich extended fr om the nortll\vest: COfIler of Spa i n to the southeast corner of the
Indus Valley.
The techn i cal and poetic literature of chess, \""hich medieval Europe "vas to inherit.) de v elop ed dur ing the height of Islamic culture-the su-called Golden "
Age of Arabic, in the first century and a half or the Abbasid caliphate (750goo). The most famous calif of that perjod ) Harun aI-Rashid
(786-8°9), is
prominently portrayed as a chess player i n Tlte Arabian /,/ights. Regardless of t he amount of poetic distortion that develo ped between the ninth century and the fifteenth, when the book's present form ,"vas compiled, it is known that
Harun pl ayed chess. In R02� Emperor Ni cephorus s ucceeded Empress Ir ene to the Byzantine throne) and ''''Tote to Harun; '� .
.
. the Empress to whom I have
PERSIA AND ARABIA
succeeded estimated you as of the rank
'4
of the
Rook, and e.stirnated herself as
of the rank
of t he Pa\vn . . . . " The soldie r s and poets of the 11iddle East identified closely wi th th e game. Keenly aware of the similarities belween chess and life, their literature runs the gamut of emotional association, from the gentle lyricism of The Arabian .l{(f{hLs through the cosmic fatalism ofrhe mOSl fa molls passage in the literature of chess-Fitzgerald's renderi ng of a quatrain [roln the Rubaiyat of Oroar Khayyam (d. 1123): 'Tis all a Chequer-boa rd orK ights and Days vVhere Destiny with 1vlcn fol' Pieces p lays ; Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the Closet lays. \""hile the Arabs \vere develop ing the literature
of the game, they also were develo ping the design of chess sets. Thr: des.igns they inherited from Persia and India in the seventh century \'\.'crc naturalistic. The new Muslim religion, however, prohihited makin g realistic images. The l\1uhammadans, being extremely fond of the game, devel oped an alternative. They designed t heir chesspieces abstraclly. One l ogica l development was the severe reductioll of naturali st ic proto ty-pes to simple forms that retain only a sugges tion of realism. On e of the best exa mpl e s of this quasi-abstr act style is a set in th e G-ermanisches National museum, Nurembe rg (Fi g . 3). The Chariot (nov., Castle ) has a rectangular outline with two splayed pinnacles. As analyzed by Hans vVichmann, this form is derived from a profil e vic,,,,, of the naturalistic. chari ol, the pin nacles r eta ining the pro minent points of a p r ofile vicvll-the head of a driver and the head ora horse . The Horse (now Knight ) , with its single projection, maintains the outline of the naturalistic p iece . The Elephant (now Bishop) has two rounded projections-so rounded, in fact, that they suggest camel h umps . But the Elephan t unearthed by Charles K. \Vilkinso n at Ni5hapu r (Fig. 4), and other con t empo rary pi eces (Fig'. 12)J poin t to a t\vo-tusked pro totyp e. The more com p lex forms of the Shah (now King) and the Vizier (now Queen) are simplifications of the type of piece illustrated in Figure s 1 and 2. On top of the for ward dome of the symholiC': elephant rides the semicircle of the former h o wd ah on \·vhich sits a buuonlike rudiment of the origi nal rider. The other type of Arabic chess desig n is dcvoid of naturalism. Co m pletely turned on a lathe, the shapes are s.o abstract that Occidentals have difficulty
loll: . .') J\.falayan; C, Kt, B, K, Q, B! Kt, C. 19th century. Ivory, Harbeson, -Philadelphia.
,
.,;. in. high. John F.
distinguishingont: piece from another. The principles OIl whic h tbjs abstraction originally ';Nas based al·e un known. Donald .M. Liddell suggesled that the
height of the piece may h a ve been hast":d on the le ngth of the neck of the animal repl't":sented. However, this theo!'y ha� not been su bstantiat ed . The earliest survivin g examples of this type were unc.overe.d in the !vl uslim cil)' ·of :\:fansiira, \vhieh flo ur is hed from the lat.e eighth to the early eleventh cen tury ( Fi g. 6). These pieces are so fr agme nted t hat t hey have not been identified. The diffusion of thc t\".,:o AraLic styles \vklS extremely ,vidcsp re ad . Soon
after they developed, both styles fundamentally influenced European designs. The higher abslract.ion seems to have re plac ed figures in Illdia, tlntil a taste for Iht: naturalistic \·vas rekindled by colonial Europeans. Kineteenth-century
exaluple s could be ro u nd in lvluslim cultures as far apart as Abyssinia (Fig. 7), Pmia (Fig, 8) and Malaya (Fig-, �),
...J.:RSIA AND ARABIA
-
r--� -
-
,
I
- --
(/ /\ •
Above top:
FIG.
6
Indo-Arabic (Mansura): Sev�n fragments. Early lIth century.
Ivory. The British j\.{us�urn. London: Middle:
FIC.
7
Abyssinian: K, Kr, B, Q, C, P. Early 19th century. Ivory. The British
Museum, London; formerly ''\'�cllcd Sclassc,. Ras of Tigre.
Bottom:
FIG.
8
Persian (Kurdish): K, Q, B, Kt, C, P. 19th century. All figures above
reproduced from l\:!urray, A History ojChe.ss, London" 19J3.
PERSIA AND ARABIA
Page 17,
COLOR PLATE: :FW. 9
20th century. \Vhi ttled
.8
(
Nigerjan Bornu Province): K,
(...:t,1\ P, Kt, C, B. Early
limba wood, one sid� singed, 7 in. high. '.I1JC .Metropolitau o[ AI'l, New York, Gift of Gustavus A. Pfeiffer, I94�1 The board is slotted at the corners so that it c.�aIl be tied down. Abm'c: FIC:. 10 J\'falayan (Selarlgor). The J\.{useum of Atc.ha<':ology and EthllOlogYi Cambridge, Ldt: naturalistic Knight; Right: abstract Knight. Opposite: FrG, II . Knights Alask an (Yakutat): Abo\"('�: thrf':f': Knights i Below: t....o and a Hishop, r9th cCIHury. '\Vhittled. wood 3 in. high. The United Stales :"ratiunal Museum} vVashington� D.C. Reproduced from Stc\vart Cu lin Game.� of the JI/orl" l\1uscum
"
,
American Indians, Washington, D.C., 1907, p. 793.
19
PERSIA ACiD ARABIA
The quasi-abstract style also had a remarkably durable design tradition. Some of its most interesting variations have been shaped in primitive societies of Africa and Alaska. The tall, thin projections of the hventieth-century Niger
ian Castle, King and Queen (Fi g. 9) are extensions of high points in the proto type pieces (Figs. 3,
4). Considering the time-lapse of ten centuries, the designs
of the Pawn and particularly the Knight are unusually close to the originals. At the opposite extreme from this extraordinary conservatism are the remark able Knights carved by the Yakutat Alaskans in the nineteenth century. Like the �-falayan craftsman \vho preferred dynamic abstraction (Fig. lOB) to static naturalism (Fig. lOA), these Alaskans imaginatively explored the rich formal potential of the quasi-abstract Knight (Fig.
1
I).
Their abstractions of the
animal's head have a clarity and expressiveness seldom equaled by more sophisticated abstract designers.
I
,-..
Above, top and middle rows:
FlG. 12
Spanish.Arabic (I), '�Ager CheSsmen": C, Kt,
B, Q,K. 10th century (1). Carved and plain rock crystal, 21i. jn. high. Comtcsse de, Behagut:, Paris. Found in the church at Ager" a village near Urge!, Catalonia.
Bottom row:
FIG.
13
Arabic: P, Kt, B, C, Q,K. 13th century ( " ) . Rock crystal and
smoky topaz with gold foil setting, 21��� in. high. Topkapi Sa..tay Museum, Istanbul.
CHAPTER III
Early Europe
\VHEN
THE
MU�LtM ARMIES CONQUERED SI'AIN In the first quarter of the
eighth century, they presumably brought chess with them. Sometime later, ""�estern Eur opeans took up the ga,me, using Arabic nomenr.iatuTc, rules and pr oblem books. What is not known is \vhcn "Vestern Christendom adopted this heathen game. The
poets of the
later Middle Ages were q uite certain that Charlemagne
(742-814) played chess. This lege, piec es arc still associa.ted \ViUI h is name. A more pr ecis e leg end states that Charlemagn e s father, King Pepin I, "the Short" (75�-i68)J donated a crys tal chess s et to t.he abbey oflvIaussac in the year 764. Such lege nds are not improbable, particularly v,.'h en one considers that Charlema.gne's c oun terpar t in the East, Emperor Ni ce . phor us {R02-fh I } , ".... as familiar ...\lith the game; the Byzantin e court may well have assimilated chess along with other Persian '
fashions. from the later Sasan.ian
Charle.magne and Harun aI-Rashid.. Very lit tle literature of any kind .survives from th e eighth, n in th and tenth c..e.nturies, the ';Dark Ages" of Europ e H. J. R. Murray, turning to the next best evidence, made a careful lingu.istic �ludy of this period. He concluded
rnunicatiuns betv..'een
.
that: The evidence derived from the nomenclature of chc. of
the
game and its technicali.ties
Iberian peninsula at a goo also.
date ea rlier th an
IOOO A.D., and probably earlier than
The \-veight. of this philological eviden.ce forces one to consi der seriously "\-",hat
basis there may have been for th e romantic tales of those later medieval poets who were so sure that chess was played in the time of Charlemagne.
As for Charlemagne himself, th ere is one piece of evidence th at he may not have been a chess player. If Charlc·magnc had pl ayed, it seems likely [hat Einhatd {d.
840), h i s
secretary and biogr apher, "','Quid have listed such a
"noble" accomplishment i n his Vita Caroli iHagni, but
he docs
not.
This fact . :
22
EARLY EUROPE
howeve r, does not precl ude the possibility o f chess being known, if not played,
by others at the time. Moreover, there is the possibility of "rare and wondrous" chess sets simply arriving as gifts. Murray, for one, believed that the extraor
dinary ivory King (Figs. 1,2) reached Europe in the eighth century. vVhether or not chess began to interest Europeans in the eighth century,
during the occasionally leisurely era of Pax Carolingia, the subsequent revival of invasions and civil strifc left little time for playing at ,"var on a chess: table. The earliest surviving manuscripts that specifically mention chess and
chess sets are ,....i11s from the family of the Count of Barcelona, whose lands then included part ofsouthern France. The first will, dated 1008 by the Count of
Urgel, who lived near modern Andorra, leaves "these my chessmen to the convent of St. Giles.... " The 1058 will of the daughter of the Count of Carcas
sonne gives "to St. Giles of Nimes her crysta1 chessmen." It is quite possible that the early chess set, nov,,' in the Behague collection, is the one donated by the Count ofUrgcl (Fig. 12).
The Iberian peninsula was only one of the t,,·,ro points from ''''hich chess disseminated to the rest of Europe. Italy ,"vas the other. Because of her continu ing trade ,,,,,i1h the East, Venice is the IllOSt likely port through which chess may have been imported. The game ,-vas played in many parts of Italy by the eleventh century. The earliest Italian document is a letter (1061 or 1062) from Petrus Damia
ni (1007-1°72) to Pope-elect Alexander II and Archdeacon Hildebrand. Cardinal Damiani lists chess as one of the vices of which the clergy we re guilty. He admits that both hc and the Bi shop of Florence had indulged in this shameful secular sport. Such sinful admissions
,verc
frequent in the early
Middle Ages. From the enlry points of Spa in and Italy, the game spread rapidly. An early eleventh-century
re ference
establishes that chess was played in Germany by
two diplomats, possibly on the occasion of the meetin g between Emperor Henry II and King Robert of France in 1022. There is a distinct possibility that King Cnut (d. 1035) l earn ed chess i n 1027 while on a pilgrima ge to Rome. If so, England and Scandinavia may have learned of chess earlier than is generally believed. Murray assembled abundant evidence that chess playing spread
\' ...·ith
extraordinary speed:
After 1 roo the number of references increases fast: I have collected more than fifty from the twelfth century, mainly from France and England, but a few
23
EARLY EUROPE
also from Germany ....From thirteenth century works I have collected well over a hundred allusions to the game which establish its popularity from Italy to Iceland and from Portugal to Livonia .... During the latter part of the Middle Ages, and especially from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, chess attained to a popularity in vVestern Europe which has never been excelled ....By 1250 the early prejudice of the Church against chess had begun to 'weaken in view of the royal and noble patronage of the game, and monastic orders '\\'crefreeIy accepting chess as a welcome alleviation from the monotony of convent life, while a knowledge of chess had spread downwards from the inmates of castle and monastery to the wealthier burgesses and merchants of the towns ....Chess was, ho\vever, in the main a game of the upper classes, and this was recognized so generally that it is mentioned again and again in literature as one of the typical chamber recreations of the feudal nobility .
.
•
.
Throughout the Middle Ages, chess lyrics were on the lips of every troubadour. Women could compete with men as equab. Lovers could either use the life like symbolism of the game in poetic allusion, or throw the heavy boards at one another. Feudal lords, with ever decreasing duties to call them outside their castle walls, had a recreation that was militarily interesting and intel lectually stimulating.
Romanesque Naturalism Until about the year 1200, most Europeans played not only according to Arabic rules and nomenclature, but also with Arabic chess sets.The popularity of the quasi-abstract Arabic piece during this period is testified to by the surviv ing chess sets (F.igs. 12,
13)
and early manuscript illuminations (Figs. 14,
15).
But from the very beginning, Europeans began to mold the game to their own sensibilities.Gradually, Europe became the prime mover in the develop ment of chess, while the Muslim game declined. The rules, the names of the pieces and even the whole concept of the game were transformed. Visually embodying this change of thinking was the form of European chess sets. The first major design innovation was the development of naturalism.The remote, impersonal God of Islam was quite different from the Christian God of medieval Europe. 'fhe followers of Allah were forbidden to have naturalistic figures in their art. The European foIlm.··,rcrs of Jesus, ,"vith a rich spiritual tradition of animisi t c things. Hov.'ever otherworldly their concept of God might have been, they reached Him through intensely realistic images.
Above: FIG. 14
Chess players. !>t1iniature from the Carmina Burana manuscript. 12th
century. MS. LAT. 4660, I\1unich. Below: FIG. 15
Otto IV "of the Arrow," M a rgrave of Hrandenbutg (I26fj�I30B).,
playing chess. Illumination from lhe
Book oj .lvlmwsse.
versity Lib ra ry, Heidelberg.
,
I ! ,
. /� •• • .
'.,.,.rJ
Ca. 13':20. paL germ. 848. Uni
EAKLY EUROPE
With such a world view of what is meaningful, the early Europeans could not he satisfied with the cool remoteness of abstract Arabic pieces. They took hold of the formalized features, and, with simple symbols, animated these shapes into figures ofliving, breathing thing; . For exampl e, the abstract head ofa horse (Fig.
16)
acquired two eyes, and became a "real" head (Fig.
17).
The two abstract tus.ks of the elepb ant (partly because Europeans did not know what an elephant was) developed into two representational heads sometimes with timid naturalism
(Fig
.
(8), sometimes with bold proto
naturalism (Fig. 1 9 ) . finally with confident naturalism (Fig. 20) . During the: eleventh and t\velfth centuries, this tendency to invest the original abstract shape with new images reached the point ofan extraordinary stylistic synthesis. Proceeding from the two-dimensional perception of relief catving, Romancsque sculptors articulated complicated religious compositions out of the "skin"· nfthe abstract piece, ...vithout doing violence to the integrity of the original outline (Fig. 2 1 ) . Such balance between two different art styles historically is both uncommon and short-lived. In general, the form of the traditional Arabic pieces continu.ed to exert a strong influence for several centuries, but only as a factor, not as an equal lorce. The eventual dominance of the Christian tendency toward figural and arehitectual realism is
anticipa ted
by a remarkable ivory Queen (Fig. 2 2 ) . in
which the old Arabic outline has been almost completely metamorphosed into a miniature cathedral. The Romancsque phase of naturalism" in which figures were sha11O\\lly chiseled
out of a dominant mas', gradually was succeeded by the more three
dimensional figurative concept of Gothic sculpture after a tr--ansitional period. The first steps tov.'ard figures with an independent plastic existence are known from chess sets that date ii'om about 1 200. Queens (Vizi.,,) (Fig. 23) from this period illustrate the extent to which the outline of the Arabic piece has been transformed into a convincing architectural space containing a relatively i ndependent figure. During the same period, when che.ssmen (like their counterparts in larger sculpture) began to emerge from such architectural settings, they did so timidly. Such pieces a� those in the Lewis chess sets (Fig. 24) are still conceived two-dimensionally. Not displacing space convincingly, they are front views and back views pressed together. The contrast between a Pawn oflhis same transitional period and a slight-
EARLY EUROPE
Left above :
FIG.
16
Arabic: : Knight.
8th-9th cenwry. Ivory, 2 Yl� in. high. Musee du Louvre, Paris.
Below : FIG. 1 7 �ordic, based on Arabic model : Knight. 9th- r oth century. Ivo ry, 2 fl� in. high. Musce de Cluny,
Opposite,
top
left :
Saxon : Bishop.
FIG.
18
Paris.
Anglo
10th century. \Vhale
bone, 41/8 in. high. The British Museum, London. Top righ t : FIG.
19
Nordic: Bishop.
roth- 1 1 th century. Hartshorn .. 3 1/� in. high. Germanisches l\'ationalmuseum, Nuremberg. Bot tom: FIG. 20 Bishop (front
German (Cologne) :
and back) . 1 2 th century.
Ivory, J3i4 in. high. Stadtische Galerie, Frankfurt-am-Main.
EARLY EUROPE
28
EARLY EUROPE
Iy later Danish Castle illustrates the difference het\.\'een two-dimensional
perspectives partially filling three-dimensional space, and the more pI(;ISlic
conception of the figure that soon developed. The s hield of the earlier Pawn (Fig. 25) is one flal plane set perpendicularly to the flat plane of the body. The later Castle (Guard) (Fig. 26) completely occupies the space around him. His head and bod y are not Hat, graphicalLy demarked areas,
but bulging masSe�
bouncing space off every contour. His sh i dd is not placed by his body ; it is
wrapped around him. His hand does not rest on top ofthe s\vord in a symbolic gesture of holding ; il i'i a c tua lly grasping the s\·\lord.
Gothic Naturalism From the twe.lfth through the fourteenth centuries, chesspieces achieved this fuller plasticity. Ho\vcver, the human figure, as a ches..'ipiece or as a full , cale
sculpture, did not become the image of a completely independent
individual until the Renaissance. The nledieval
man 1
however great his
personal importance, also tended to be part of a larger reality. Th� Bishup shov,rn in Figure 27, for all his i mpressive strength as a person or as a chess piece, is not completely self-contained and self-motivating. He owes part of
29 Opposite :
EARLY EUROPE
FIG. 2 1
Southern Italian : King. Ca. 1 roo. Ivory, 21!-h in. hjgh. lvlusee du
LouvTe, Paris. Carvings: King enthroned, flanked by two kneeling bodyguards ,,,,'ith sword and shield (front) ; symbolic figures (back) . Below : FIG. 22
French ( ?) : Queen. r r th- 1 2th century. Ivory, 3 }\. in. high. Mmcc
de Cluny, Paris. Carvings : Adoration of the Magi with Joseph on rigbt, formerly Star of Bethlehem
was
represented by thin gold foil embedded just over pediment (front) ;
Massacre of the Innocents and Baptism of Christ (back) .
,
30
EARLY EUROPE
Opposite :
FIG.
24
Scandinavian or
Anglo-Saxon� "Lewis Chessmen" : Top : K (front), Q, B; Bottom : K (back), Kt, C. Ca.. J 200. Walrus bone., 4 in. high,
AU, National Museum of the Antiquilies of Scolland, Edinburgh , excepl King,
The British Museum, London.
FIG, 23
Southern ItaJian : Queen (Vi
zier) (front and
back).
Late 1 1th cen
tury. Ivory, fannedy painted red, 41%0 in. high, Cabinet des Medailles, Paris.
EARLY
EUROPE
33
EARLY EUROPE
his strength to a larger divine power. The Knight in Figure 28, for all his dominating importance, is dependent for support on those who arc dependent on him for leadership. By the thirteenth century, Europe had transfigured the Arabic chess set into an image of its own culture. The Oriental game of war, played with symbols of a miniature army, was transformed into a game oflife, played with symbols of a miniature state. The Shah became a King. The Vizier, his companion and advisor, became a Queen. Together they ruled the state and ran the wars. Beside them stood Bishops, who gave spiritual as well as political and military counsel. Next were Knights., the backbone of the entire socio economic structure of feudalism, and the army. Finally, Pawns-foot soldiers of war, and the basis ofthe whole economy, either as agricultural serfs or urban artisans. In short, the Gothic chess set was a naturalistic portrait of medieval feudalism (Fig. 29) . The development of naturalistic or pictorial chess sets was encouraged by extremely popular ethical allegories, known as Moralities. One of the earliest, the Innocm! A10rality of the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, provides a persuasive view of chess as a lifelike game: The world resembles a chessboard which is chequered white and black, the colours showing the two conditions oflife and death, or praisc and blame. The chessmen arc men of this world who have a common birth, occupy different stations and hold different titles i n this life, who contend together, and finally have a common fate-which levels all ranks . . . . The King's move and powers of capture are in all directions, because the King's will is law . . . . The Knight's move is compounded of a straight move and an oblique one; the former betokens his legal power of collecting rents, etc., the latter his extortions and wrong-doings . . . .
Above left :. FIG. 25
Southern ltalian: Pawn. Lab:: 1 1 th century. Ivory, formerly
gilded, :3 in. high. Cabinet des Medailles, Paris. Above right : FIG. 26
Danish ( ?) : Castle (Guard ) . 12th century. Hartshorn, P Ia in.
high. National lvluseum, Copenhagen. Below left :
FlO.
27
Danish
Q1'-
German: Bishop. 13th century. Walrus bone, 2 1/4 in.
high. National Museum, Copenhagen. The eyes originally were jewels. Below right :
FIG.
28
German : Knight. 14th century. Ivory or hartshorn, 31Y;" in.
high. Germanisches I'\ationalrlluseum" Nuremberg.
FIG. 29
School of the Maitre aux Boqueteux. .Allegory of
Chess with personified ehesspieces. Illumination from Jacobus de Cessolis, Jeu des iehees moralist, translated from ' the Latin by Jean de Vignay, Northern France, ca. 1360. Tinted grisaille pen drawing on vellwn. The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, Gift of William S, Glazier.
The Pawns are poor men. Their move is straight, except when they take anything : so also the poor man does well so long as he keeps from ambition. After the Pawn is promoted he . . . moves obliquely, which shows how hard it is for a poor man to deal righdy when he is raised above his proper st,ation. In this game the D evil says 'Check ! ' when a man falls into sin; and unless he quickly covers the check by turning to repentance, the Devil says 'Mate!' and carries him off to hell, whence is no escape. This feudal image of the Pawn as Poor Man, with most of life "above his station," is reflected in the design of chess sets throughout the medieval period. Until about the thirteenth century, only noblemen played the game. So only the tanking pieces were considered important enough to be represented as individuals. The form of the Pawn continued in the Arabic tradition ofsimple, abstract anonymity. This idea of the Pawn was appropriate in the early medieval age of name less serfs. But as European society grew less static, thinking began to change. The expanding economy of medieval towns established for the commercial class a position of increasing importance between serfdom and nobility. The emerging "middle class" wanted its rightful place to be recognized. The
Liber de morihus hominum et officiis nohilium, written by Jacobus de Cessolis in the second half of the thirteenth century, gave them the acknowledgment they
•
FlO. :JO
Nordic ; Knight and Bi!lhop. Late 1 2 th-early
13th century. Bone:
I
¥i, in. high. State Historical Mu
seum, Stockholm.
were seeking. Cessolis was a Lombard priest of the Dominican Order, which -was noted for its attempts to come closer to the common people, and to reduce
the sharpness of social distinctions. As Murray has noted, "the most or4,..-inal and remarkable feature ofCessolis' work is his treatment of the Pawns. Instead of treating them as one .group, representative of the commonalty in mass, as is the general method in the moralities, he differentiates between the eight Pawns, and makes each Pawn typical of some group of allied trades or profes sions," The following abbreviation of the manuscript"s third section indicates what each Pawn represented and what his symbols were : Pawn · J Peasants and Wine Growers ; Pawn
2
a hoe
and a pruning knife.
Smiths, Carpenters and Masons; a hammer, axe, and trowel.
Pawn :3 Weavers and Notaries; a pair of scissors and 'Writing implements. Pawn
4
Merchants and Changers ; a full purse and scales.
Pawn 5 Physicians and Apothecaries; a jar of medicine and knife. Pawn
6
Innkeepers and Hostellers ; an inviting gesture and jug.
Pawn 7 City guards and Collectors ; a key and an open bag. Pawn 8 Rogues and Vagabonds ; a few pennies and dice. Sociologically, this work was so widely read (it was copied almost as often as the Bible) that it paved the way for the popularity of the game among the bourgeoisie. But visually, Pawn designs were not influenced by Cessolis'
EARLY EUROPE
figurative suggestions until stronger middle-class confidence developed during the sixteenth century.
Medieval Abstraction As the game began to spread beyond the confines of the nobility, the need for i nexpensive chess sets developed. To Carve a Romanesque Of Gothic piece was difficult and time-consuming, something only the nobility could afford to commission. But simple abstract pieces could be turned out on a lathe easily and quickly. Of the two types of Arabic de.sign that have been discussed, the quasi abstract style was the domina_n t foreign influence on European chess sets until the thirteenth century. The demand for i nexp ensive production in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries brough t ahout a highly abstract European design styl e which was influenced by the Arabic lathe-turning tradition (Fig. 6) . Among the earliest European 'examples of this schematic or stereometric style are two )Iordic pieces that date from about 1 200 (Fig. 30) . The symbolic parts of these pieces are simple variations of the quasi -abstract Arabic_tradition. The h eart shaped projection of an abstract head on the Knight (now chipped) continues the traditional form of the K night. The two vertical projections of the Bishop also derive from the abstract elephant tusks. illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and I 2 . But innovation in d esign is shown b y a compari�on of the forms of the two shafts on which the symbols sit. Thc hody of the Knight is conservative ; the mark of the lathe on it is superficial. The slight, decorative circles could have been. pa inted on. On the other hand, only a lathe could have made the
,
-
37
EARLY EUROPF.
grooves in the Bisho p ; they have been deeply incised into the core of the body. The shaft of this picce is a developed expression of the technique of its produc tion. This star::k uf s,egmented disks is a fully three-dimensional design, not merely a t\vo-dimensional line cncirclinR a three-dimeilsional object. The Europeans were beginning to experiment with the formal possibilities of
complete abstraction. The h ighest point in the formal development of this technical investigation \-vas achieved in an extraordinary fourteenth-century chess set now in the Mu see de Cluny (Figs. 3 ' , 3 0 ) . The transitional Bishop (Fig. 30) is a mixed form, its shaft being based On the technique ofproductio.n� its symbol continu :ing the quasi-naturalistic tradition. The design of the Cluny set is based almost entirely on the' physical requirements of lathe-turning. Both shaft and symhol are integrated aspects of the same form-a series of segmented disks between slightly flaring trape.zuids at base and crOwn. As with the schematic Arabic dt'_�igns) the level of abstraction i n the symbols is �o refined that it is difficult for most Occidental. to iden tify the pieces. Only the symbols ofthe Knight and Bishop relate. to the q uasi-naturalistic tradition. But the forms of their tradition al configurations are transformations that are thoroughly integrated with the general stereometric design. The traditional projection on the Knight (Fig.
32)
is no longer an independent protrusion jutting out from the main body,
hut an extension that, by means of its thick concave curve and thin linear continuations., is formally fused ,"v ith the cylindrica.lity of the main body. The traditional (\Vo projections of the Bishop have been conv�rted into two concave indentations symmetrically scooped out of the main body. The revolutionary symbolism of the other pieces is totally non-naturalistic. Huth the King and Queen are simply scored with-fout synlmetrical cuts on the
Opposite : FIG. :1 1
Scandinavian:
C, Kc,
8, K, Q, B, Kt: C. 14th century. Bone,
21%.
in. high.
Right : FIC. 32
�{U!lcr. de
Cluny, Paris.
Bishop, Pawn and Knight
shown in Figure 3 I .
EARLY Jo;CROPE
cross-axis. The Cast.le is not scored at all I t is more th an likely that the abstract .
symbolism of these pieces, if not the entire set, is an early forerunner ofn10dcrn functional symholism in which th e marki ngs refer to hm,v the pieces move on
the board. Schematic abstraction of this gene ral type became widespread in the thirteenth and fourteenrh
centuries.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth cen
t uries this stylc blended with (he pa rall e l traditions of naturalism (Fig,
33 )
a nd quasi-abstraction (Fig. 34) to form the basic characteristics of modern s tanda rd design.
1
1\'
A� f
•
� �
Aoove : HC. B :
\ '
Burgundian : K, H, Kt:
C, P. Late t4th- early 1 5 th century. Rock
crystal and smoky topaz with silver gilt selting. ).t!usee de Cluny: Park Below: FIG. �4 silver
Burgundian : K, Q: B: Kt., C, P. Rock crystal and smoky topaz ''lith
gilt setting:
2
�is in. high. �fusee de Cluny, Paris (on
loan to Musec ell! Louvre).
C H A P T E R IV
Later Europe
AN EXTRAORDINARY CHAPTER In
the history of chess ended with the decline
of medieval feudalism and the rise of the middle class. The bourgeoisie, of course, had been
ac quainted
with chess for SOInc time. But as a typical recre
ation, the gam e b elonged to the nobility, 'whose leisurely way oflife \-vas suited
to its characteristics. In the !vfiddle Ages, if a middle-class individual became skilled in the ar t of chess, he probably was aspiring to a higher social l evel .
been morc appropriate. As the economic power of the commercial classes began to ch allenge the position of the aristocracy, th e nouveaux riches adop te d chess along with the For his busy temperament, card playing would have
othel' social trappings of the landed gentry. The availabili ty of inexpensive chess sets, th e lessons of medieval !vloralities, gro\'Ving self-confidence a nd a cer
tain amount of spafe time all combined to reduce the exclusivity of the game and cncourag-c its geTluine fX)pularity in the to\vns. vVichmann records that household inventories of the fifteenth and sixteen th centuries "almost invaria bly inc l ud e a chess set. " One may question how many of these sets were simply
for display, and how many for actu al play. But for a certain p eriod during the Renaissance the average man did take the game seriously.
Renaissance Resolution During that period of active involvement, the newly-interested, together
with those of the old urder who continued (0 play, established the foundations of modern chess-both the Tules or the game and the design or the pieces. The basic rules in use today ",.;ere devi sed in the last quarter of the fifteenth
century. The Queen and Bishop, which had very limited moving potential in the Middle Ages, were given the broad power t hey now enjoy. With these ch an ges , the speed of the game increased, out of the rhy thm of medieval
feudalism into the pace of the
Age of Adventure and Discovery." This new
"
ability of the player to engage in after slow
seriolls action i mmedi a tely, rather than only and laborious opening moves, was a small but sign i fi can t reflection
of t he new
soci
ology
of the Renaissance-that comprehensive system of
LATER EUROPE
FIG.
35
The Chess Players. Venetian
canvas, 321�·18
x
( ?) , ca.
1590. Oil on
401·%8 in, Berlin-Dahlem Museum, Berlin.
"Institutionalized Individualism" that integrated the psychologicaIIy con sonant developments ofreligious protestantism, economic capitalism, political democracy and aesthetic single-point perspective. In this era of almost unparalleled creativity, designers generated a multi tude of new shapes for the board. There were so many different types that it is difficult to trace a consistent line of formal development. But the general history of this revolution in chess design is clear. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the two earlier European styles (naturalistic and schematic) formaIIy intermingled and finaIIy merged, completely replacing the old Arabic tradition. Totally naturalistic chesspieces are what one would expect to find in a portrayal of Renaissance man, primarily unrelated to anything but himself: proud, free-standing figures, molded with meticulous attention to the particu lar details of visible reality (Fig. 36). But thc importance of pictorial pieces, as serious designs, began to diminish. Schematic pieces were more popular by the end of the fifteenth century. Being both unpretentious and inexpensive, they appealed to the serious new players. Once that preference had been expressed, the design problem was to reduce the plethora of possible shapes to some common standards that any
4'
LATER EUROPE
two players could use (Fig. 3 7 ) . Players, preoccupied by the game, must be able to identify their pieces instantly. Most of the new chess sets were too abstract or undifferentiated to meet this fundamental requirement of chess design. Either the schematic modulations were too subtle, or the regional symbols were too esoteric for the average player. Moreover, the Occidental humanist seems to have been uncomfortable thinking on a level of complete abstraction, without any recognizable reference to nature. The standard design that finally resulted at the end of the Renaissance was a combination of schematic shafts and naturalistic symbols. The King and Queen had become distinctly taller than the other pieces. Being easier to identify, they ,,,,,cre designed morc abstractly. Primarily schematic, they usually contained some symbolic reference to a naturalistic crown. For the Bishop, Knight and Castle, which were so similar in height, a standard set of natural istic symbols supported by schematic shafts slowly emerged during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This compromise between the naturalistic and the schematic is known as "conventionaP' design.
FIG.
36
German : Bishop ( ?) . Early 16th
century. Limcwood, 4 1:'8 in. high. Germani sches :"Iationalmuscum, �uremberg.
Selected Renaissance chess sets) indicating formal variety and symbolic -in consistency before advent of modern prototypes, These illustrations arc adapted from the following books : A) Caxton, The Game and Playe ofthe CheJ.f8 (second edition); London, ca. 148o. B) Publicius, Ars oratoria! Aug. Vindelicorum, 1492, c) EgenQlff, Des Schach-
FIG, 37
�
A.
'M' ,
�
z;ablcJ grunt/ick bideutung, Frankfurt, Iy�6.
.
D) Mennel) Schach;;abel Spiel . " Oppenheim,
ca. J 520. E) Dami�o) QU&stro libra e da imparare.giocare a scacM et de Iipartiti, Rome, 1 5 1 2 .
F ) Ibid. (fifth edition), 1524-50. G ) Selenus, Das Sdwch-oder Konig-Spiel, Leipzig, 1 6 1 6 . H) Ibid. I ) Philidor, Studies o/Chess, 1 80g . .I)
Murray, A Histo�y o/Chess, London,
1913.
.
- .
,
-
In developing an acceptable set of symbols, the entire European tradition of chess design ,'Vas drawn upon, including versions of the quasi-abstract Arabic prototype (Fig. 37A). Trying to profit from the lessons oflathe-turning, faltering with inconsistent abstract images and tending tm·vard some kind of naturalism, craftsmen attempted variation upon variation. Finally, a pair of completely naturalistic symbols emerged. The head of a horse, which had been in and Qut of use for severa] centuries, was recalled to service. Joining i t on the board was the tower of a castle, first published between
1524
and
1550 (Fig. 37F). The success of these two symbols in conjunction was im mediate. By the end of the sixteenth century a broad portion of the popular imagination had been captured. With the advent of the so-called "conventional" chesspiece and standard symbols for the Knight and the Castle, the basic prototype for modern "Staun ton" design (Fig. 37J) was established. Except for minor distinctions, the Elizabethan chess set illustrated in Figure 38 could have been designed in the nineteenth century.
Rococo Dissolution During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was a sharp decline in the general qualit y ofchess set design. :Forces ofsocial change 'were removing chess from daily life, and therefore chess designers from meaningful contact with reality. Playing cards, which came into general use during the fourteenth century, began to challenge chess as the typical indoor recreation. Card playing was less prolonged, less involved and less intellectually taxing. Gradually, the chess set became a ,vorshipful, time-honored object resting ornately on a table, utterly respected and utterly unused. I n the eighteenth century, cards effectively replaced chess among both the middle class and their good friends, the new commercial nobility. Chess playing came to be regarded as one of the curious occupations of the few.
45
LATER EUROPE
Lacking the strict requirements ofchess playing as a formal discipline, chess sets became further and further removed from the realities of the game. With few exceptions, the general level ofdesign devolved into a profusion ofcharm ing frivolities. Plump porcelain cherubs danced on cas tle turrets. Bishop-fools flopped on ivory donkey backs. Bacchuses and bacchantes, b utterfly Queens and flowering Pawns, mermaids and sea horses flitted and oozed around each other in an orgy of delight. Here was the theatrical titillation of Rococo at its height, and chess design at its nadir.
Neo-Classic Restoration In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, sobriety returned to chess set design, i n keeping 'with the severe formal characteristics of the Clas-
-'
. �.:" '.
�
..
'
I
Opposite: : FIG. :18
English
chess set.
1nth
century.
I vor)' )
beson, Philadelphia. Hans Eworth painted the family of ing
wjth �imilar
piect!s between 1554
:2 liR
in. high. John F. Har
the third
ann 1570. Sec Hammond,
Lorn \Vindsor play
The 8MkofCheS5men�
London, 1 9.,)O� p. I 5:�. Above :
FIG.
39
Jan de Bray. The Clu:.!J Pia.J'er. Dutch,
Library, The Hague.
I 66 , .
Sepia, 3 1/.
x
5'�'il in. Royal
LATER EUROPE
sical Revival, and a n�ne\vcd interest in serious chess playing <:lrnong the newly securc, post-revolutionary.. upper midd le class. The Renaissanc:e tormula of mixing the scherIlatic and the naturalistic, a product of the mixed psychology of the time, \vas conceptually and f(Jrmally inconsistent, )"Jany chess set designers during the "Age of Reason" \vere discontent with this i l logic:al compromise , and tried to create a IllOrc raLional
system offcll'ms. The result \vas a style of desigll Lhat is knuwn as aDircctoire" (Figs , ip ,
/12 ) ,
Durin g t h e developme n t of this elegantly proportioned s ty le: considerable attention \\·as paid to the problern or replacing ahstrz.c:tions. On(�
o bviou s
solution,
sirnpl y
nat urali s tic
syrnbols with
diiIerentiating pieces by height,
was attr:mptcd I11any tirnes, This appruach produced
ehe ss
sets that
·were
vlsllally attractive, log·ically consistent and fun ctionaHy faulty. As illustrated in Figure 4 I , thL (l.uecll: Bishop and K n igh t are so similar that they arc likely to he mistaken f()r one another in the heat of a game. :l\/lany players have cllrsed t h e so-called "French" descendants of this des ign ) after having moved the wrong piccf', l\'f orf' tha n one angry player is known to have inlproved this design defect on the spot v,'ith the aid o fa pocketknife. T h e Knight illustrated
F](,.
to
HOIlOl/' J ) : nnni('l'. ThtCli/:'.1I PI/I)'ITI . FreIlch.
wood, () : " :> 1 2 ·\ � in. }"1 us(:c dll Petit Palais, Paris. '
ca.
r HCi:). Oil 0 1 1
FIG. 41
"Directoire" chess set. French, late 18th cen
tury. Drawing reproduced from CheH Alade Ea.�·, Lon don, 1797. A similar design reproduced in EnC)'clopidie .'Hethodique) Paris, 1 792.
in Figure 45 is a typical, industrially produced piece from the period that has been neatly sliced on hvo sides by an outraged Ciwner who never again would mistake i t for a Bishop. The more sophisticated sct illustrated i n Figure 42 is an excellent example of the formal unification possible 'within the Directoire style \vithout the sacrifice of necessary symbolism. The top of its handsomely demarcated Knight (Fig. 43) has (he symholic slanting cut, which had been used to distinguish the piece in the sixteenth century (Figs. 37c, 37D). By expand ing the simple idea of a slant into a circularly contoured, dO'wn-sloping "collar,H this designer integrated the traditional symhol into his formal program of stacking disks i n a most ingratiating way. There were many such successful, individual chess sets during this period. Hm,vever, as during the Renaissance, no universal agreement could be reached as to \vhat abstract SYIIlbols should represent which pieces. Just as the Bishop in Figure 37H resembles the Castle in Figure 370, the Knight in Figure 43 has an abstract outline similar to the Bishop i n Figure 44. In the latter, the quasi naturalistic symbolism seems to refer to a Bishop's chalice, if not also to the diagonal direction ofhis move. In England, almost exactly the same symbolism was used for the Knight. The interest in logical and formal consistency \vas not sustained long enough to produce generally accepted abstract symbols. After the beginning of the nineteenth century, the energies of serious designers turned to\vard finding a satisfactory standard within the Renaissance convention of mixed symbolism (Figs. 46, 47) . Efforts i n (his direction resulted i n one of the finest sets ever produced, the famous "Staunton" design (Frontispiece, }'ig. 48).
Above :
(,'IG.
1.2
"Dircctoire" chess set.
18th CI�lllury. Ivory, 3 �/� in. high. John f. Harbeson, Philadelphia. French , }ale
Left : FIG, 43
Knlght shown in liigurc
4'2 , 2 ';* i n , high.
Oppus i I I ' ahovf: :
(Braunschweig) :
44
( ;r:rmarl
Chess set
and boanl.
Fln.
Board and probably pieces by H .\.1 . .
Schmidthammcr. 1 780- [800. Silver and
gilt. :H'� in. high. ,Mr. and !\hs . Paul Rei I'. �ew York.
HDil'tctoirc" Knight. French., late 13th c.ent.ury. P�a..wood, 2 % in. high. John F. H�tbt:sOT1) Phila· delphia . .Formerly oW1)ed by John Bar Right:
FIG.
45
tram of Philadelphia. Bartram's friend, Benjamjn Franklin) owned a very simi· lar chess set in which the Knights also were artlficially distinguished by knife
cuts. Bolh men) being ve.ry practical, may have "improved" tne desigtt of their chl!Ss Sets.
Top : FIG, 46 $panish ( ?) theSs set, Late. 1.8th-early 19th c.(,l'ltury. Cast bronze, otie Mllsemn of Art, Ntw York, Gift of side silvered, 4V� in. high. The ?\:{etro poli�an ' Gustavus A. Pfeiffer> 1948. :\fiddle: fIG. 47 Miltese chc. ... se\. Late ,'Bth-early '9th century. Made fur English market. Reproduced from Hammond, Th, 1JWlk iijCh
LATER ECROPE
It is said to have be en designed .in 1 839, by an unknown artist, and ,vas registered at the Bri tish Patent Office in 1 349 by Howard Staunton, the Eng lish chess. mas.tcr. In thc CJ'CS of most chess players, the ';Staunton" design has never been surpassed. n..'10st games, i ncl uding championship tournaments, sti ll are played ,vitlI SOlllC version of this desi gn . The pieces are quite re,varding to the touch and respo nsive to the lllove. They arc i ndivi dual ly well proportioned, and fo rmally interrelated uy Ineans of classical balusters crovvn.ing balls and grooves that, in elevation, are either at the same height or at equally lneas ured intervals. The gradu a ted height of the pieces although singularly UIl expressive of re la ti v e pmver, contri bu tes to the architectonic composition of the \vhoJc. The d ifferent levels of natural is tic SYllluolisIIl are distinctly articulated. The Knight and the Castle are obviou s . The abstract cro\,·,:ns that cap the King and Queen a rc clear. The more abstract shape of a Bishop's h eaddress also is app are n t . Some neglected details of IHOdeI'n versions of this ico nography indicate that functional syrnbolisrIl may be a n integral part of the naturalism. The deep cut into the Bishop may suggest not only a ITliter but a diagonal nlove. The points in the Queen' s crown, and the (Tenel s in the Castle's parapet, Illay suggest both thc angles and the number of directions in ,vhich these pi eces call lnove. This in terp re tation is possible for latcr variations in which the Queen's cnnvn has eight points and the Castle's parapet has four crenels. But in the o ri g i na l d nnviI l g there are Lvvelve points and six crcncls. Hm,\'ever: it is knm,vn that the idea offull c tional form \vaS in the mind of at least one nineteenth-century designer. The iiJU(rwing analysis of the design, of which nothing else is known, was published by Liddel l : ,
,
,
Frederick S. Copley patented SOIIle
designs for chessmen i n 1864 that were intended by their shape to shmv begi nn ers the rnoves of the pieces . The King and Queen were cir cl es shmving their move in all di rec tions , hut the King vvas only half the thickness of the Queen because of his limited po\vers. The Bi shops 'were triangles, befitt i ng t h eir ob li qu e nlOve ; the K nigh ts octagons; the Rooks squares, because of their straightforward and side\vise move; the Pav-.' Ils hexagons. They had the familiar symbo l s of the pieces a lso stamped on them, as a further gui de . The sides were d isting ui sh ed only by colour, so the mF.n werF. unfitted fc)r play by th e blind . . . . No pieces of Copley s Geometrical and C nl v ersal Chessmen are known to the au th ors . Search as to the shapes of these early innovations has disclosed nothing. ,
'
CHAPTER V
Twentieth Century
GOD-MEN WF.RE APPROPRIATE
IN
A�CIE�T
India. Kings and crowns and ca�tles
""'ere appropriate in feudal Europe, and its romantic Victorian survival. But
the rel eva nce of medieval symboli sm in the twentieth century has been seriously ques tioned by many designers, who have attempted to design chess sets that are appropriate for our o\vn time. This search for \vhat is meaningful about the ancient game in modern limes has produced whole ne\-\.' vocabularies
of form.
Dada and Everyday Forms The history of modern chess sets b e gins with the Dada movemeltt in general, and the intellectu al artifacts of Marcel Duchamp in partiCLllar. Dada,
which
flourished in New York and Europe between 1 9 1 3 and 1 92 2 ,
was many things. Primarily: it was not so much a style of art as an attitude alnon g artists. Negatively, the Dada artist:::; were full of contempt for the values of a society that they felt was responsible for the horrors of vVorl d War L The hypocritical ideals, complicated morals and rarefied aesthetics of Edwardian Europe were fit targets for their h unlOfo1l5 � atire and bitter invective. Positive ly, in reaction to E dwardian artificiality, the
D adaists wefe overflowing with
an r.xtraordinary enthusi asm for alJ that is honest, direct and simple, for the immediate exp e rience of the wonderfully reat. The Dada artists
were
no t the first to do many of the things for
whi ch
they became notorioliS. Abstract compositions, collage technique, aut omati c poetry, belligerent manifestos and extravagant "Happenings," all had oc cu rred a number of years before. Rut most of these innovations took place as isolated experiments in relative obscurity. The Dadaists orchestrated all these newly developed instruments of art, and played their boisterous hrass band down the center of:>.1ain Street, into the marketpl ace of ideas. Their pa intings,
COLON. PLAT}:; : n o .
49
Max Ernst. Kt, Q, B� P, from set designed 1944, executed 195:1.
Boxwood, 5 in. high. ,"Villiam N . Copley, New York. Sf'C Figllres 66-68.
FIG. 50
for
:r-,:larcel
Duchamp. Stud,}'
The ehesJ Plqyers. September
October,
IgI I .
Charcoal,
I j x 23
in. Jacqueline I\tfonnier, Paris.
poems, publications and personalities simultaneously invaded New York, Zurich, Hanover, Cologne, Barcelona and Paris. v\lhile more i mportant single individuals hammered away at the principles of conventional art, the Dada group puL dynamite around the solid block or stolid bo urgeois aesthetics, and bIc\-\! it up in the public square. To the CUIisternation of all v..·ho thought of art as sOInething idealized and remote, the Dadaists rummaged around in the neglected pockets of the every day, discovering the richness of comrIlOIl realities. To their nc\vly opened eyes, the hitherto unrealized aesthetic potential of their daily environnlent COIl tinu ously burst like an endless string of colored firecrackers. They reached ri gh t out into the middle of life, and brought the actual \vorId right back into the Iuiddle ofart. Taking hold of reality with a brand-ne\v grip, they conducted a revolution in the history of seeing. Because their revolution \vas successful, \ve look at things differently tod ay They made us av/are that the difference between what \ye usually accept as "are' and \'\ihat we usually regard as "reality" can be very sInall. The sensuous lines of an oil slick, the massive gnarls of a tree stump or the sharp outline of a spark plug now can be "legitimately" enjoyed as much as a painting. lVforeover, in certain Dada situations, the traditional distinction b etwe en art and reality can completely disappear. Being interested in chance relation ships and what happens "in between" art and life, they placed natural or rnanufactured "found ohjects" into the purely visual context of created or fo rmed objects, and \"latched appearances change. By juxtaposing aspects of the fonned and aspects of the found, the')" made art and reality overlap interact and become part of the same thing. Man Ray's Boardwalk of 1 9 1 7 (Fig. 5 1 ) is an excellent Dada example of .
,
TWE:-l"TIETH CENTURY
55
chcs$uoard �Jan Ray added some paint and a few other Readymadc o qj ects These "found objects" wcre formed, or slightly altered and put into an unfamiliar context. The chesshoard is no longer a real board (one cannot play on the distorted squares), but part uf a different entity tha t Duehamp called a n Assisted Readymadc. Hovering transfornlcd reality. To a ;'ReadYTuade"
.
between art and lifc, Boardwalk suggests the reality of life by the presence of physical artifacts, yet denies this suggestion by having rendercd these useful things useless; and suggesLs the reality of art by the presence ora picture frame FIG.
5I
25112
x
:\'1an Ray.
B()ardwalk.
1 9 1 7. Oil on 'wood with furniLure knobs and v"'ire,
28 in. Cloria de HI::J"I"t:ra, Paris. " The first work. ofhis I saw
.
.
.
wa�
the tradtma rk
ofth� New York Dada gruup. I t was a ch�ssboarci ",,,hich he had made into a work or art by adding 'anti-artist.ic' knobs mid bits or rope. " H
r\cw York, 1965, p. 96.
Dada: art and (mti
TWENTIETH f:F.NTlJRY
and paint, yet denies this suggestion by the fact that the paint has done nothing more than transfonn real checkered squares into a useless configuration. One becomes a\vare of the interacting reality of art and life as one realizes that the patches of material (which look "real" but are not) at the upper right are visually balanced by the long, heavy rhythm of the "unreal" painted square distortions at the bottom ; that while the knobs do not pull open real drawers, their placement visually pulls open the composition; that while thcwirc is tying the knobs together i n an ostensibly useless way, it is visually holding the com position together. I n short, Dada interchanges art and everyday experience by making objects that arc useful in life also function formally and symbolically. Thanks to Dada, absolutely anything is something an artist can use; any rnaterial can become part of a painting or part of a chess set. Many Dada artists played chess. The man rIlost responsible for their interest was Jvlarcel Duchamp, \vho gave up painting for chess in the carly f920'5, and becmne an internationally respected player as a melnber of the French championship team during the 1 930's. Duchamp's first attcmpt to design a chess set was a minor effort (Fig. 52), relat.ing more to chess than to Dada. His enthusiastically executed drawings are only slightly abstracted conven tional symbols, a uurst of energy rather than a full-ulown idea. His first executed chess set (Fig. 53), exhibited in 1 914, is a completely dcveloped, i f quiet, example of an Assisted Readymade. Ducharnp bought a standard, commercial chess wallet lor five dollars. Not quite content with the form of the symbols, he redesigned them, had them printed, and put the paper between the celluloid himself. Being a serious player, he also was annoyed that the pieces of the standard set sometimes slipped out of their slots. To prevent this, he added the head ora straight pin to each square. With this minor alteration, he (almost in adve rte ntly ) formally unified the entire surface of the board. The pinheads are there because they are usefu l ; by chance, their gridlike relation ship forms a pleasant sup(';rimpo�cd pattern that sinlultaneously denies and affirms the original pattern of the board. Like much of Duchamp's work, his chess set is as much a functional desig-n as a '�work of art," an interesting intellectual exercise that happens to be visually attractive. More in the boldly blatant spirit of Dada's use offound objects i n ostensibly incongruous situations is Alexander Calder's chess set (Fig. 54). His un pretcntious design is a happy hodgepodge of fully formed things (K ni gh t ) ,
1 &
"I
..,
1 Above; FH;, ;)2
l\:farccl Duchamp. Designs for chcsspiccrs. 1 92 ::2
foUl' sheets of card, each carcl g
x
9 in. The i'VluscuIIl of�locll'rn /\rL ::'-J"ny \'ork. Kather
ine S. Dreier Bequest. Below: FIG. 53 pinhcads, 6 III
l'vfarr:r:I Duchamp. Pocket chessboard. 1 944 x
( '.' ,: . ()eTlClI and ink 0 1 1
( ?,I . Leather, celluloid and
{ Iii! in. �:fr. and Ivlrs. IVIarcd Duchamp, New York.
l\bove : FIG
.
14
•
Alexander Calder. Chess set. Before 1944. \rVood) bent melal and
screws. r,,1 r. and Mr!>. Marcel Duchampl :\lew York. Below : FIG. 55
Rit.:hard Kamhollz. ChN..,\ set. ] 949. Painted nuts)
bolts and
WhereabouL.;; unknown. Courtesy of The .\-luscum ofl\:lodern A.rl, Ne\v York.
sercws.
Above: FIG. 56
Arthur Hammer. Ches:;
:;�t
and board. 1967. Painted nut:; awl bolts
on aluminum board, 6Vz in. high. Court('�y of the: designer. Below : fiG. 57
l\'l ichel C;ui no. Chess set and boarrl. 1967. AU1 0TT10hik engine parts,
bronzed and chromed, on an aluminum hoard, 9�'" in. high. Courtesy of Gall erie Lt. Cloche� Paris.
T W E N" T 1 E T H CENTCRY
60
slightly formed things (Bishop) and simply found things (King and Queen) . Calderls use of the straight screw and the eye screw for King and Queen is an excellent exarnple of how a Dada eye can discover i n ordinary everyday surroundings something as appropriate for a chess set as universal symbols for male and female. The possibility of making a useful chess set out of objects as simple as nuts and bolts has intrigued a number of designers. One of the most successful of these sets was designed by Richard Kamholtz in [ 949 (Fig. 55 ) . Kamholtz developed the idea Calder used into a logically consistent system of distinct forms. His selection of symbols is particular1y attractive. The King and Queen are crisply crowned. The Bishop and Castle are unmistakable reminders of their prototypes. The Knight, with its t\,vistable top, has a built-in suggestion of how it moves on the board. At an opposite extreme from Kamholtz\ light, quick-moving pieces is Arthur Hammer's seventeen-pound chess set (Fig. 56). Conceived for those \",ho enjoy making authoritat.ive moves, these monumental pieces arc sym bolically complete ,,,,ith the traditional bishop's mitered peaks, the iInage of a helmeted warrior and the parapet of a castle. The only difficulty with expand ing the nut-and-bolt idea to this scale is thal the problem of finding formally consistent bases becomes pronounced. Most of the chess sets that usc the Dada principle of having everyday objects represent something other than themselves continue the history o f naturalistic symbolism. No matter ho\v abstract, these pieces are selected or designed to represent traditional figures. But some of Dada's descendants have linked the idea of COOlmon objects with functional symbolism. Armanls chess set (Fig. 58) , for example, carries the nut-and-bolt idea to a higher level of abstraction by using only one generalized form. The different nature of each piece is indicated either by height, hy mass or by a sanguinely symbolic slice. The Dada tradition, of course, is not limited to nuts-and-bolts designs, \."hieh are merely typical. The point of Dada is that eveIything in the \lvorld is available. One can make a working chess set out of anything. The pieces can be as elegant as bronze, with symbols as remotely related as the similarity be tween the move of the Knighl and the move of the Pawn (Fig. 5 7 ) . Or the symbols can be as obvious as maps on forms as unpretentious as pebbles (Fig. 59). The only limitation is one's imagination.
58
Arman (Fernandez). Chess set. 1968. l'.'le t a1 . Courtesy ofthe rle�ignn.
Below : .FIG. 59
Bill Epton. Chess set. 1966. Carved beach stones, 2 1/2 in. wiue. Courtesy
Above :
FIG.
of l\1ultiples, Inc., !';ew York. Size lndicatcs rdative importance of pieces.
6.
TWF.NTIETH CE:"-ITI.IRY
Surrealism and Irrational Forms Surrealism grew out of Dada, \vith a number of the Dada artists j oining the Surrealist movement.
B o th
movements were fascinated by the acstheti c pos
si bilities of chance discoveries. Both focused on the relationship of imagination and newly discovered realities. But the fundamental diflerence between the two movements was greater than all thc simila rities
.
While the Dadaists
experimented with the physical reality of the external world, the Surrealists expl ored the psychological realit y of the internal world. The typical unit of a Dada painting or chess se t is the straightforward presentation of an arresti ngly obvious trans posi tion The typical unit of a .
Surrealist painting or chess set is the evocative elucidation of a poeti c analogy. The Dada element is snatched off the si dewal k . This public image tends to be specific, simple and unmistakably clear. The Surrealist el emen t is exorci se d out of the subconscious. This private im.age tends to be general, complex and richly vague.
In their painting and s culpture the Surrealists were as sens i tive to the similarities bet\'\'ccn chess and l ife as the ancient Arabs. J\lan Ray added to his abstract chesspicccs the image of a human confron ta tion in his battle of the
Elld Game (Fig. 60). The Killg Playillg with the Queen by Max Ernst ( Fig. 6 I ) , and The Heart Players by Roberto Matta (Fig. 62), extend the lifelike allusion to
Opposite:
FIG.
60
l\.1an Ray.
End (;mn€. 1 946.
Oil on ca.nvas, 2 � %
x
29 1/2 in. lvh-. and
Ml's. Daniel �1attis, Chappaqua. Above: FIG. 6 ,
l\.1ax Ernst. The King Pla,'Yitlg with the QueeTl. '944. IJronze. 381h in. high.
The M.useum of Moderrl Art, New York. Girl or �1r. and Mrs. John de Me-nil. Exhibit ed in "The Imagery of Chess," as The King a.fChess.
FIG. h2
Roberto !\1"atta. The Heart PIOJ'CTS. 1945. Oil on
canvas,
77
x
99 in.
\OVhcrt"abollts unkno.......n. Discusst:cl in \VilLiam Rubin, lV/alta, �ew York, The
Museum of Modern Art,
r 957)
p. 7. Three-dimensional chess., which seems to
hav� been introdu('(xl in 190B, is tOO complicated to be discussed length here. (See Fjgure 79). The suqjcct
was
si mpl e
any
taught at the New School for'
Social Rt"se-ardl by Ervand Cr-orgc Ko�hetlianlz. \vho publislu·d pamphl t:t called Space-CheH in T 9�J"2 .
chess beyund the level of the
at
:J
short
narrative, into the wurld of primitive
subconscious suggestion. At another level of the interrelationship between art and lile, many of the figures of Rene Magrittc overlap human symbols with c h ess
symbols. �luch of this sym bolic conlplexity also exists in their ehess sets.
What is remarkable aboul Lhese forms i , that they are well designed as play ahle chess sets and are not merel y min iatu re
sculp tu re .
One of the earliest Surrealist chess sets was designed by :\-lan Ray in f926 (Fig. 63) . I t is an intere'ting essay on the possibilities of mixed symbolism. �'lost of the pieces arc gconletric. Some of this geometric symbolism can be understood
as
' :funetional,ll in a .Hauhaus sense. For example, the square form
of tbe Castle suggests the corner position and the directness of its move. But some of these geometric symbols are more naturalistic than functional. Like
T\\o'ENTIETH CENTURY
Calder's chess set) the forms of Man Ray's King and Queen reJate to universal symbols for male and female, without any specific reference to chess. For his Bishop and Knight, lVlan Ray dre\\' on two sources as diverse as Surrealism itself. The shape of his Bishop has a direct ancestor in a four teenth-century Nordic Pawn (Fig. 3 2 ) . His Knight is
a
Dada-Surrealist
transfiguration. Partly, it is simply the scrolled end of a violin or cello, plucked from liCe and plopped on the chessboard. Partly, it is an abstract reduction of a horse's head. The unusual character of the Knight has been a stumbling block for many who have tried to design a chess set with geometric forms. In the wake of the Staunton tradition, it has been difficult for most designers to avoid some reference to nature. Despite the strict discipEne of :Nian R ay ' s design, the unity promised by the intensity of his effort is not entirely achieved. Although the individual pieces are quite successful, the total design is not integrated. Formally, the size of the spherical Pawns is out of proportion. Conceptually, the auempt to mix naturalism and abstraction simply continues the Renais sance formula. Despite the individual interest of his Knight as a r.hesspiece, it is not in character with the rest of the deslgn. A thoroughly consistent and brilliantly simple solution was designed about 1Cl38 by Yves Tanguy (Fig.
64).
In the Dada spirit of making some
thing out of an everyday reality, Tanguy took a broom handle and carved out of it some of the purest abstract shapes that have ever graced
a
chess table.
The design is lJnified by two characteristics : every piece is cylindrical; every piece is cut in the simplest possi ble way. The achievement of the design is the successful use of "functional," angular syrnbolisnt within the severe restriction of pure sculptural forms. The Castle is a straightforward cylinder. The King is a taller cylinder, in keeping wilh the close relationship of the two pieces in actual play. The atypical nature of the Knight is convincingly expressed by an obliquely truncated cylinder. The diagonal move of the Bishop is sliced into its shape. The moving potential of the Queen, who can move on the angles of a Bishop or a Castle, is symbolized s_u ccin<..:tly by being crowned with those h\'o angles. Not all the chess sets or paintings in the Dada-Surrealist tradition are as serious asathers. Calder's chess set (Fig. 54), for example, is somethingofa pun : checkers, plus
a
few things, equals chess. Some of these lesser '\vorks of art"
capture that special kind arjoy une feels at the mornent of spontaneous dis-
T \VRKTmTH C E N T U RY
66
TWENTIln'll CE�TURY
covery.
One must be careful not to approach such
8.
·work \\'ith too much
seriousness. It can be fragile, the way a lyric or a bubble of air is fragile. If one's ae:sthctic or rational hands grab at it too roughly, it \.\7111 pop.
If conceived
with a smile, it must be received with a smile� or i t cannot smile back. Julien Levy's design (fig. 65) suggests some of the spontaneity that ac companied its conception. In a recent letter, answering an inquiry hy the author, Levy recalled the circumstances surrounding the birth of his egg
shapes i n the summer of 1 9 44 : Max Ernst and I [wanted] to play chess o n the beach. W e drew a chessboard in the sand and tried using pebbles and shells. They were difficult to distinguish as pieces. I bought some plaster, intending to cast blocks \-vith rounded bot tom s , then
carve the blocks. At breakfast, I
decided to cast in the egg-shaped
empty shells from my soft-boiled eggs. I cast for several mornings thereafter, and rnean\'\.-· hile had the idea of preserving the egg form in variations for all the chessmen. Max Ernst managed to swipe some ormy plaster and in . two \\'eeks . . . he \va� not only making his o\VTl chess �et
but,
.
.
about
with additional
plaster ii'om the store, a \vhole series of large sculptures that occupied his working hours for
the
rest of that summer.
The ·work of that summer prompted Levy to organize an exhibition at his New York gallery in December called �'The J rnagery of Chess," all the interrelated elements of painting, design, serious design and
a
combini ng sculpture, assemblage, humorous
blindfold chess competition, in which George
1926. Silver, 4 in. high. '-I 'h(: l\:fuscum of r...'iodcrn Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Man Ray has designed several other' Above : FIG. 63
Man Ray. Chess set.
chess sets.
Below : FIG. 64 Yves '['anguy. Chess set. Dr:sign(:d before 1939 ; this replica executed ca. 1930. Painted wood, 3 % in. hig-h. The I\-fuseum ofl'"fodcrn Art, ='Jew York. Gift of l\:frs. Yves Tanguy. This set i s a replica of one carved from a broom handle that Tanguy gave to the scuLptor Brancusi before Leaving Paris. Discussed i n James Thrall Soby, Yr)es Tanguy, New York, The !vfuseum oL \'1odern Art, 1955, pp. 18-19.
(;8
TWENTlETU CEN T U RY
Ju1ien Levy. Chess set.
FIr.. 65
1 944. Pla�t(';r pmlotype., not in production. Oourtesy
of the designer. This photog-ra.ph "is somewhat misleading. The bottom of each piece actually has the J'ollmled contoUr of an eggshell, suitable for pJaying in santi. For this photograph) the picc(';s wcn� placed in siallds to keep them upright.
Koltanowski (blindfolded) played simul taneous games against Alfred Barr, �fax Ernst, Frederick Kiesler, Julien Levy, Dorothea Tanning and Gregory Zilboorg, with Marcel Duchamp as referee. It was the most importan t exhibition of its kind evcr held. Playable chess sets wcre contributed by Du
champ
54), Ernst ( Figs. 49, 66-68) , NogUChi, Tanguy, Hcythum and Zilboorg.
(Fig. 53), Calder (Fig.
72), Man Ray,
Filipowski (Fig.
The most important chess set was by Max Ernst. Soon after that day on the beach, he began to work on his own design. The first highly figurative plaster models (Fig. 66) were molded into more appropriate chess forms in time for thc exhibition (Fig. 68). Physically, the solid rounded forms arc pleasant to handle and easy to move. The Pawns are responsive to the light grasp of two fingers. The other pieces. receive the lift or push of a moving
ha n d
at any point -high, middle or low.
Vi$ual1y� the spatial mociuJations among the pieces are rhyt hmic from every point of view. Because of the sculptor'S sensi tivity to the many possibilities of theule
and
variationl the eye is never bored as it weaves. through the intcrrcla·
[ionships of thick and thin, short and tall, s harply protruding and sensuously
modeled forms.
69
TWE)lTIETH CENTURY
FlO.
66
�fax Ernst. Chess set. 1944. Plasler
model. \\Ihereabouts unknown. Reproduced from Chess Revicw, january, '945, p. 4·
The uncleI' angle orthe Pawn reverses itself and rises, scoops in for the space
of a finge-ftip and continues� dosi ng
as a
softly rounded cone. The lower part
of the Castle is again two truncated cones back to back, topped with the strong horizontal of an i nverted cone, suggesting both a tower and the broad straight pH:mcs of the move. The powerful eui've of the crescent�shapcd Knight sug gests both a horse's head and the circ.uitous character of the move. The co nfiguration
of the Bishop, which is related to medieval European designs,
suggests both a bishop's hat and its two-way di Giorgio's
Che", Players of about
moving
poten tial. (See Francesco
'485 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
l'iew York.) The forms of the. King and Queen also express how they move. The Kin� has the weighty bulk of the Castle and the diagonal cut suggestive of the Bishop's move. The body of the Qu een is a doubling ofthe conical composition
of the Castle with a diagonal slice in her "face." Traditionally, of course, the King, as [he most i mportant piece, is taller than the Queen. However, the Queen is by far the most powerful piece in the game. In actual play, the King tends to he almost a "drone bee . ' J Intent on portraying the realities of the game , Ernst, FreudianlYl reversed the traditional roles, making his humanoid
TWENTIETH CENTURY
Above :
1'10.
67
70
�lax Ernst. Chess set. Designed 1944, executed 1958. Boxwood, 5 in.
high. "Villi am K. Copley, Nnv York. Several versions of this design have beeh produced in different materials.
Below :
FIG.
68
Max Ernst. Chess seL Designed 1944, executed 1945. Boxwood� .5 in.
high. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift ofJohn F . Harbeson.
T\...·F.NTIETH CENTURY
Queen
the. most dominant piece on his chessbo ard.
One would expect to find such rich ly articulated symbols in the work of a Surrealist art is t.
Bu[. such a comple tely
balanced fusion of chess symbols and
life symbol s is' remarkabl e . Even more remarkable is that Ernst was able to orchestrate this symph ony of' symbo ls with such extraordinary s ubtlety that all this formal and icono!(caphic music is only softly played in thc background
of w hat is first and foremos t a chess set.
Bauhaus and Functional Forms Perhaps the most important influence on the design of chess sets in the twentieth century has been the Bauhaus, ""hich flourished in Germany be tween 1 9.1 9 and 192ft As wlth Dada and its artists, the Bauhaus was more ofa '
spirit than a style. The international student body of this design schoul was tra ined simul taneously by arti sts and craftsmen i n a progra m that embraced
everything visual, everything rn aterial, ev erything spiritual a.nd particularly '
the n atu re of pos'�dble interrelationships.
The Bauhaus teachers established this comprehensive program to sensitize its students to the necessi ty of machine-age production-the Drily way in w h ich well-designed products could be made available to c very level of society. The emphas is was first on finding a fu nctio nal so l utio n to a design problem} then working out the simplest possibl e form to express that solu tion . Architects and industrial d esigners taugh t not " beauty " but. the articulation
.of working parts in the simpl es t, least expensive way possibl e with contempo� rary materials. Artists t augh t not Hart'" but the ima�inative mani pulation of expressive form. Craftsmen taugh t not virtuosity hut the atti tude of care and sons that could be used not only on the the tech nique of simple detailing-les
ann of a chair carved out with a traditional tool J but on the structure of an entire chair pun ched ou t b y a machi"l'le. The chess set that Josef Hartwig d esigned at the Bauhaus in 1924 (Fig. 69) .'is a miniature portrait of th ese design principles . He rej ected the traditional
idea of figures symbolizing the names of the pieces . In kee ping with the social ethic of the Bauhaus, Hartwig was interested i n what the pieces actually were, not what names they had. He based his design on the operating reality of how the pieces func[ioned, how th ey moved on the board, rather than the litera ry
associations their names could bring to mind. Focusing with strict discip l ine on, function and function alone , h e articu lated
Abov e : FIG. 69 wood, 1 3/4 in.
Joscf Hanvi1ig. Chess sd. Final ....ersion. I9:.l3-24. Natural and stained
high. Tht!
Museum of Modern Art, Ne.-v York. Gift
of Alfred H.
Barr�
Jr. Executed by the Bauhaus Carpe ntry vVol'ksbop, Germany. Reproduced in Hayer,
.Bm.(haus 19[9 1928, Ne.w York, Th� ::\1uscum of Modern Arll 1 93B, p. 44; Hartwig, Iieben und kfein,ungm des Bildhauers, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1955, p. !.o! S ; Schcidig, Crafts. uIlhe r1'eimar Bauhaus 191!)-1924, Nc",,' York, 1967, p. T4·�. Oppositf:: FIG. 7()
Josef Harhvig. Chess set. 19Q 3-24. Pn'!iiminul'Y version. Chf:s"
table by H. )J6sseit. 1925. Red beechwood: partly stained black. \·Vhereabouts un
known. Courtesy of The Ivluseum of Modern ArL, 1\'ew York.
a solution in the formal language of simple geometry. He uscd the cube to express the fact that the Castle moves on lines parallel to the edges of the board ; thc right angle to express the turn in the move of the Knigh t ; and the
"Xl! for the douple diagonal move of the Bishop. The taller royals are more complex, as their power is greater and their moving potential more complicat ed. Ho\... the King can move is- expressed by a small eube set diagonally on a ·
larger cube. He may move one square straight (as suggested by the large cube, ,,,,·hieh is t h e form of the straight-nl0ving Castle) or one ,square diagonally (as suggested by the diagonal placement of the upper cube, reminiscent of the
TWENTIETH CENTURY
74
moving potential or the Bishop). The unlimited moving potential of the Queen
,is symbolized by a sphere, which is not only visually u nl imi ted by direction, but free from the empathetic associations of weigh t and mass which character
ize cubes. It is a handsome design, unusually well thoug-ht out. One of the most interesting pieces is the Knigh tl \.vhich has exactly the" s,ame profile no nlatter on \vhich of its six sides it is si tting . Less succcssful is the detailing of the Bishop.
The four pointed ends of the �·,X" would have been more in the spirit of simplicity had they been squared off. Moreover, b ecause the symbolism or the King and Queen is no t of the same formal order as the :symbolisn1 ohhe other pieces, the whole design does -not m.e_et the logical test of cubic forms : neatly fitting together in a box
(ef.
Figs. 70 and 7 1 ) .
Higtoric�lly, i t is interesting that Hartwig did not arrive at the remarkable simplicity of this design without first passing th rough
a
"
clas sical " phase, in
which he put h is pieces on a variety of little pedestals (Fig. 70). It took several attempts to filter the essential from the unnecessary, and fit t he fundamental iilto tigh tly compact forms .
Richard Filipowski's chess set (Fig. 7 2 ) , while retaining a number of Hart wig's ideas, makes di st inct -contriblltion� to the vocabulary of mode:m chess
sets . The pure cylindrical Queen develops Hartwig1s idea for circularity jnto another, equally suggestive form. The eight directions in which the King
Chcss sct shown in Figure 75, packaged in dear plastic box, :2 x 6 Ii 4 in. FIC. 7 J
,
FIG.
72
Richard Filipow:!ki. Ch('� set. I943. Acrylic resin, 3 in. high. Courtesy of the
designer. Reproduced in �Ioholy-Nagy,_ Vision in A-{otion, Chicago, 1947 .
can move, subtly symboli zed by Hartwig, arc graph ically scored on top of
Filipowski's piece. Although this literal approach
t6 expressing a piece's Inovernent is not consi s ten t \'lith the less explicit general design of this particu Jar set, it is, huweverl qujte. val id in j-t�elr an d has since been well develop ed in other chess sets (Fig. 73) . The si ngu lar achievement in Filipo wski 's set is the design of his- Knight. While all the other pieces could be made ofwood, the form ofthe Knight derives front the exp loration of a flew material, acrylic resin. The firm twist in the body ofthc horse, both simple and sensuous, is par ticularly appropriate to the material's 'plastic potential. Moreover, the t\·vist is not an arbitrary exercise in sculpturally satisfying convolutions. I t is
usual turn in
the Knigh t's
a
convincing symbol for the
un
move (compare with the twisting screw by Kam-
TWENTIETH CENTURY
hoitz, Fig. 55). What makes this Knight an excellent design is not only that it is a technically interesting investigation ofa new material, or that it is a form that clearly expresses a function, 01' that it is pleasing to the eye, but that itis all three simultaneously. Gerard Ifert and Ellen Marx have collaborated to produce a handsomely proportioned set that carries the idea of "scoring" the pieces to a logical conclusion (Fig. 74). The direction and numberofpossible moves are expressed in a boldly graphic way. Cut into the rectangular blocks are abstract plans of moving potential ; shallowly cut pieces move a limited distance; deeply cut pieces move an unlimited distance. It is possible to object to the similarity between the symbol for the Knight and the symbol for the King and Queen. But in general, this design is a suc· cessful attempt to integrate the visual symbols used by the mind and the physical blocks used by the hand. Most designs that try for such an inter· relationship simply draw or paste a two-dimensional decal on top of the block, which is ornamentation rather than integration. The Hert-Marx chess set and one by the author (Fig. 75) approach the problem of expressing movement from entirely different points of view. Ifert and Marx lifted the whole two-dimensional plan from the. board, then extend ed that flat plane into three dimensions by sinking it into a block. The result is a loss ofmass. What the- author abstracted from the plan
\...·as
only the single
dominant angle of the moving potential, using that angle in the elevation of a solid block. Xn this way, the visually symbolic and the physically movable are not two separate things existing side by side in space, but two inseparable aspects of a single thing. The result is not graphic lines within masses, but graphic masses (Fig. 76). The Castle, moving online, parallel to the edges ofthe board, is rectangular ly shaped. The Knight, with an L-shaped move, is L·shaped. The Bishop, moving on a forty-five-degree diagonal, is diagonally shaped. The Queen, hav ing all the moving potential of two Bishops and a Castle, is formed as an open, visually active configuration of two Bishops and a Castle.. The: King, having only a limited part of the moving potential of the same three pieces, is formed as the c1osed, visually inactive converse of the Queen. Moreover, modulations in the volume ofmass are calculated to indicate relative importance. Although the three pieces have the same height, the equally strong Knight and Bishop have only three-quarters of the mass of the more powerful Castle.
TWE�TIETH CENTURY
77
These pieces are intended to have the look and feel of little packages of power. The interlocking blocks are packaged to reflect the essential nature of the game-rational recreation, played with a simple system of basic units whose fields offorce continuously interact in subtle, complex patterns (Fig. 7 1 ) . In this chapter i t has been possible to present only a brief selection of the functional designs that have sought out what is basic to the game (the relative significance and moving potential of each piece) , then encased that elemental force in simple self-expressive forms. Having distilled from the naturalistic tradition of chess design the operating fundamentals of the game, these designers believe that draping a simple gaming piece in the costume of a queen is
as
appropriate as dangling Gothic traceries from an I-beam.
Above :
FW.
73
Gerard lfcrt and ElleIl Marx. Chr:l\s set. 196j. Nautral woods, 31)J.e: in.
high. Courtesy of the designers. Hel m...,. :
Fl(';'.
74
Diagram analyzing symbolism in Figure 73·
Above : FIG. 75
Lanier Graham. Chess set. Designed IgG6, executed. 1967. Natural
walnut and limba wood, 3 Jh in. high. The "Museum of Modern Art) New York. Gift of the designer. Below :
FIG.
76
Diagram analyzing �ymbolism in Figure 75.
D =:J '
' , , , , l.. _ _ _ _
i"� � ill
I I ' I I I I. _ _ _
.J
, ,
, ,
, , , , , , � _ _ _ .J
, ,
' '
:
I
: I
: I
--- -
, I
! :
,
�
."
\
, !-
\ l.... i ...., . --> u,-r-\"'/'
M
I
-
/"
r " '6 " '- , ;
/
I
"
"' ,
"
." .
;"
.',"
---
••- - -
( TV
--
/ -:::--___----
.--
/'
,
; I
t
FIC. 77
Rober t C.
Caples_ Study for a chess set. 1967. Not in production.
Courtesy of the designer. All the pieces of each 'side fit into their King.
CHAPTER VI
Conclusion
TRADITION IS ONLY ONE
ROOT
of current reality. What has taken place is only
one influence on what is taking place. The other influence is contemporary sensibility. Because traditions arc not self-generating, each generation or culture confronts what has happened, decides if it should be continued at all, and if so in what form. Throughout history, the nature of the game of chess and the design of chess sets have undergone many transformations. The ancient Indians carved their sets as realistic figures. The sympathetic Persians maintained the tradition. But when this naturalism was confronted with the nonrepresentational doc trine ofIslam, it was transformed into highly abstract variations. The Persian idea ofa Vizier, meeting a similar Arab culture, remained the same. When the idea of a powerful person standing beside the central figure was confronted with the romantic culture of medieval Europe, that chesspiece became a queen. Arab camel riders became knights on horseback, and turrets on Indian elephant backs came down and became castles. In medieval Europe, not only the names of individual pieces, but the whole concept of the game was altered. What had been expressive of an Oriental army was transformed into what was expressive of an Occidental state. The quality and quantity of abstract chess sets in the twentieth century indicates that another fundamental change may be taking place in the general concept of the game_ The traditional "Staunton" design, with its naturalistic images of medieval armies, suggests a game between combatants who enjoy the winning of battles. The new designs, with their abstract images of intel lectual forces, suggest a game between contestants who enjoy the process of thinking. With these pieces on the board, it is possible to play a game of chess without also playing a game of feudalism or a game of war. Only the future will be able to tell how such changes in thinking about the game may affect the design of chess sets. In the meantime, the new tradition of simple abstract shapes is developing. Some designers, reflecting the continuing relevance of feudal forms, are creating elegant chess sets with romantic sug-
s.
CONCLUS[Ol'\
gestions ofmedieval pageantry (Fig. 7 7 ) . Some designers are producing techni cally brilliant essays on the idea ofa chess set as a package of tools for the mind to play with (Fig. 78). If the idea of the chesspiece as a pause-point for the mind, a simple visual spot in a logical configuration, continues to develop, the next kind of chess set may be a board oflights on the face of a computer.
Charles Perry. Chess set. 1967. Nickel-plated brass! fj in. high. The l\:!useum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Richard H. '\-"addell. Both sides are the �ame color; FIG.
78
the distinction is made by the formal opposition of cylindrical form versu� rcctartgular form. All the pieces on each side are contained inside thei r interlocking King and Queen. The connection comes apart wiul a simple push and twi!tt. �{cdjeV"al symbolism is used -throughout the design, from the Bishop's miter to the heart ofthe Queen. -. - --
-
cross-cut
opening in the Knight's visor and
"V /1"'-
" I
"
v
.- -. • • • - -
•
•
79
• • •
• • • • •
• • •
•
• • •
FIG.
•
•
•
•
• • •
Lanier Graham. Studies for computorized chess sets. Above: : b r ,...·o-dimcn
sional piece, (C, K\, B, Q, K) ; page 84: three-dimensional pieces (B, C, B, C, B).
-
1 966-68. Based OIl the simple logi c of a comput�r, these systems of symbols are intended to
represen t the potenti':l.l of each piece, from the p oint of origin in the center of the
symbol to (and/or through) all the points of possi blt niOv�ment. As
hvo
dimcnsion al
"graphics)" the pieces could move as lighted images on a computer's display board. People playing standard chess with such a selon acomputor-assisted board ,"",auld enjoy
a number of advan taKes. They could consult the computor on the probable advantages of possib le mo,,;-es , p rofit from an ( ' i nstant -replay" on part of a tape of the game jusl
.
finished� and then study similar problems in an archive of historical games. In the meantime, the same symbols can b e used now for everything from magnetic pocket size sets to standard notation
The same design principles can be employed for three-dimensional pieces. Such sets can be used on two-dimensional boards, but would be part icularly appropriate for
Space-Chess) played on a "board" composed of several standard boards, with pieces movi ng through three-dimensional space (See Fig. (;2) , A computor CQuld
.
change
the
image of t.vo-dimensional pieces on a two-dimensional hoard inlQ lhe image of thret: dimensional pieces on a three-dimensional board at the push of a button
Chessmen. Xcw York: Harcourt, Brac�,
Selected Bibliography This bibliography is limited to books in English that discuss the design of chess sets in a primary or specifically relevant way.
'lbey are list�d chronologically.
.
1937· HAMMONDj ALEX
The
Book of Chessmen.
London: Arthur Barker, I95n.
'VrOHMANN,
HANS and
SIEGFRIED.
Chess,
More comprehensive bibliographies may
The stor,.y of chesspieces from antiquity to
be found in Murray and '·Vichmann.
modern times. London : Paul Hamlyn,
COPLEY,
FREDERICK
S. Improved Geometri-
(at and Univer.ral Chessmen. Stapleton,
1 964. HARBESONJ JORK
F. ]v'ine Centuries ofChess
I 86.{.
men, The Collection of John F. Harbeson.
CCLlN, Sn:,>vART, Chess ([nd Playing Card!;.
Philadelphia: Philadelphia l\:luseum
Staten Island,
vVashin gton , D.C., Governm ent Print ing Office., 18g8.
of Art, 1 964. \VILKINSON�
--. Games of the JI/orth American Indians.
JESSIE
CHARLES K.
and
DENNIS,
MC-"\AB. Chess: East and West,
vVashington, D. C . , Guvernmen i Print
Past and Present, A Selectionfrom the. Gu.r
ing Office, J907.
tavus A. Pftiffer Colle.ction. Xe,," York :
J\,1URRAY,
H.J.
R. A HistorJ' ofChess. Lon
don: Oxford University Press, 1 9 1 3 . LIDDELL,
DONALD
GUSTAVUS A.
!\:[ and
\,,;jth
PFEIFFER,
MAUNOURY,
J.
The :M�tropolitan Museum of Art, 1968.
l\:lAcKETT-BEEsoN, A. E . ] . Chessmen. Lon don : \Veidenfeld & Nicolson., 1968.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /- / /--; / / 1/ / /- / -;; / -;; / -;; /� / / /_/ / r / / / r / / V
l)
l)
Walker and Company Collectors' Blue Books
THIS
SERIES IS DIRECTED
to enthusiasts in
many areas. The books have been designed in attractive and compact formats, and they are profusely illustrated. Each practical and informative vo lume has been ''''fitten by a recognized authority, and \vill prove inval
uable to amateUl's, connoisseurs and schol ars. The scope of the series is exemplified by
the titles listed belm\' :
Buttons by Diana Epstein
Chess Sets by F. Lanier Graham
Dolls
by John Noble
French Clocks by Winthrop Edey
Tiffany Glass by :tvIario Amaya
Walker and Company
720 Fifth Avenue Nev., York, New York
10019
PRINTED IN TIlE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
