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Lot 472 CHESS SETS FROM A EUROPEAN COLLECTION (LOTS 472-530)
Slight king, oblique bishop, and a queen
Blood-lusting; upright tower, crafty pawn -
Over the black and the white of their path
They foray and deliver armed battle.
They do not know it is the artful hand
Of the player that rules their fate,
They do not know that an adamant rigor
Subdues their free will and their span.
But the player likewise is a prisoner
(The maxim is Omar's) on another board
Of dead-black nights and of white days.
God moves the player and he, the piece.
What god behind God originates the scheme
Of dust and time and dream and agony?
Jos Luis Borges's, "Chess" (1961)
Slight king, oblique bishop, and a queen
Blood-lusting; upright tower, crafty pawn -
Over the black and the white of their path
They foray and deliver armed battle.
They do not know it is the artful hand
Of the player that rules their fate,
They do not know that an adamant rigor
Subdues their free will and their span.
But the player likewise is a prisoner
(The maxim is Omar's) on another board
Of dead-black nights and of white days.
God moves the player and he, the piece.
What god behind God originates the scheme
Of dust and time and dream and agony?
Jos Luis Borges's, "Chess" (1961)
A FRENCH CARVED IVORY BUST TYPE CHESS SET
DIEPPE, LATE 18TH EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Closed26 March 2013
Price Realised
GBP 10,625
More Information
Specialist note
A similar Dieppe set carved to represent the French versus the Senegalese, with the features on the stained side heightened, is illustrated in Hans und Barbara Holländer, Schach Partie Durch Zeiten und Welten, Hamburg, exhibition catalogue, 2005, figure 122.
These sets were carved to depict the battles between the French and their colonial possessions, a popular theme among the Dieppe carvers during the late 18th century and 19th century.
These sets were carved to depict the battles between the French and their colonial possessions, a popular theme among the Dieppe carvers during the late 18th century and 19th century.