Bidspirit auction | Nine chess pawns

Nine chess pawns - Nine chess pawns Iran, 12th century or later Made of blue or brown glazed fritware body and moulded to depict: A king, identifiable with the outline of a throne, two viziers, equivalent to the queen, symbolized by seats smaller than that of the king an elephant, equivalent to the bishop, characterized by the two protrusions that recall the tusks three pawns, domed with faceted bodies a chariot, equivalent to the rook, and a horse. The game of chess originated in India in the 6th-7th centuries AD where it's original name was caturanga and represented the four divisions of the army (infantry, cavalry, elephants, chariots). The strategy game soon spread westwards and was adopted in the Sasanian Empire (Persia) under the name chatrang, becoming part of princely education. After the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century, the game took the name shatranj and adopted increasingly stylized and aniconic shapes to comply with the religious ban on depicting living beings. For further information see Carboni S., Chess and Other Games Pieces from Islamic Lands, Thames and Hudson, 2018. For a comparative exemplar, see Metropolitan Museum New York, Acc. no. 1971.193a-ff. Il più alto: H. 5 cm