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A RARE SET OF 16 ANCIENT CHESS PIECES, MOST LIKELY GREATER MESOPOTAMIA OR PERSIA, CIRCA 11TH-12TH CENTURY
奥地利
2025年12月16日 开拍
拍品描述

Description

A RARE SET OF 16 ANCIENT CHESS PIECES, MOST LIKELY GREATER MESOPOTAMIA OR PERSIA, CIRCA 11TH-12TH CENTURY

Dating of this lot remains speculative to some extent, given the lack of exact comparables. Comprising one complete half of a chess set. The limestone and/or calcified marble pieces are abstract forms: the shah (king) is represented as a throne; the vizier (the equivalent of the queen) is a smaller throne; the elephant (bishop) has two tusklike protrusions; the horse (knight) has a triangular knob representing its head; the chariot (rook) is rectangular with a wedge at the top; and the pawns are hemispheres with knobs. Each figure is incised with a dot-in-circle motif. (16)

Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition with wear, natural fissures—some of which have developed into age cracks, small losses, few chips, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.

Weight: 231 g - 48 g
Dimensions: Height 6.5 cm -4.9 cm

The dot-in-circle motif recalls designs presumed to be of magical significance, most likely an abstract eye to ward off the evil-eye, which serves an apotropaic function. Easily reproduced with a tool and visible in many cultures and times, this symbol may have lost its meaning and become simply a decorative pattern.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related ivory chess piece, pawn, Iran, dated 8th-11th century, 4 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1972.9.22. Compare a related stonepaste chess set, Iran, dated 12th century, 5.1 cm-2.9 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1971.193a–ff.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 17 April 2007, lot 60
Price: GBP 31,000 or approx. EUR 70,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Seven ivory chess pieces, probably Mesopotamia or Syria, circa 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related abstract modeling of the pieces. Note the size (5.2 cm).

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价格信息

拍品估价:2,000 - 4,000 欧元 起拍价格:2,000 欧元  买家佣金:

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