NEW in the Museum
Every museum needs to be cleaned , rearranged and have the exhibits repositioned every now and then. Plus show traveling exhibits, run special shows, have children's and amateurs classes etc. Although the management here is a bit thin, we shall try to live up to these standards...in the meantime, here are a few new entries to the collection....
Opening Sunday 7.2.2010
18 h 30 GMT (UTC)
Open till 31st of March
Biedermeier Cocktail
The first of special shows will be followed by others in the course of the year, circumstances permitting:
- "Deutsche Bundesform" will address origins and evolution of the simplified chess style developed for the Munich Chess Olympics 1936 under the baton of the Nazi authorities - sensibly April-May,
- Extra-large playing sets, will exhibit and compare large sets between FIDE standard/club size and street or tournament sets - May-June,
- Modernist and Modern sets - June to July,
- and eventually "Echhh - is this plastic?" in summer - not secured yet!
- "Deutsche Bundesform" will address origins and evolution of the simplified chess style developed for the Munich Chess Olympics 1936 under the baton of the Nazi authorities - sensibly April-May,
- Extra-large playing sets, will exhibit and compare large sets between FIDE standard/club size and street or tournament sets - May-June,
- Modernist and Modern sets - June to July,
- and eventually "Echhh - is this plastic?" in summer - not secured yet!
Tall Barleycorn
This set deserves the name - the namegiving decorations around the central drum are prominent and well executed. King stands 104 mm - unfortunately one rook has gone missing. 19th C - quite detailed turning on the stems, bases, tops.
Regal Regency
Impressive Regency - impressive through the massive form of the pieces, the fine execution, and the fierce look of these knights. The bishops have side cuts on the top rings, the rooks are the straight type, and the knights are cut in great detail. Kings at 110 mm!
Russian Plastic
Attractive plastic set in the traditional Old Russian mold, designed with great care and detail. Pieces are weighted, no mold ridge or line is visible, posing the question how these pieces might have been made....
Meta clock
Chess clock from pre-WWII - with an ingenious and simple changeover system - a curved spring is fixed on the bottom wood slider - as this slider is pushed back and forth, it stops either one of the mechanisms. Really simple, works fine. Probably pre WW II, probably Spain - no mark on the clockworks. Note the two two colour spots on the clockface, white and lilac.....
Bone miniatures
Miniature bone set, finely turned, with a 30 mm king. No two pieces are alike - the overall impresion is You need a magnifying glass and pincers to risk a game..the ifno I have it is from Nuremberg and 19th Century. It stands to reason that a set this small was made a s cabinet trick for collectors, proving the prowess of the turner.
Old Vienna
Almost faultless set in Austrian or Coffeehouse style, made in hardwood (fruit?), surface polished and superbly varnished. Nicely stylized knights, bishops tops are separately inserted parts. Would date from the 1880ies - but could be of later date.
Dwarf colony
Handwhittled german figures, most likely from the fertile Erzgebirge carvers - early 20th C. - unfortunately minus 3 pieces! Might well serve as letterweights or deco pieces somewhere, since each pieces practically is a curio figurine! Kings and queens are conventional royalty, but the rest is folks in the most diverse acts or professions, minutely carved caricatures, rather funny and appealing. The white king - much larger than his counterpart! - stands 77 mm high. The rooks are carved according to 16th century traditons, as elephants bearing a top - each beast is waving his snout in a different direction!
Canton Bones
Cantonese "Burma"style bone set, with the white king standing 64 mm. These pieces - no two exactly alike - shd be from the end of the 19th C - the white king is notably higher than the red one, with slightly different hats and stems. The two red steeds hail from different stables, and a former owner has glued stems with the aid of sealing lacquer - a frequent practice in former days!
Indonesian Regency
Interesting set in massive teak?, an indonesian interpretation of the long-running Regency form - one side natural wood, the other side tinted black. The imposing knights can only be interpreted by somebody who has been there, and I suppose, seen some of the colourful festivals, shadow-theatre, popular designs etc. Kings stand 95 mm - when I received the set it was so dry it seemed to powderize in my hands. Motto: teak needs a lot of oiling and waxing.
Don Quijote
Tall and well-carved set in stone oak - the winged knights refer less to poor Rosinante than to Pegasus and the immortal Cervantes' poetic inspiration! The kings - Don Quijote in person - stand 135 mm high, the windmill rooks are in quiescent position. Quijote is one of the two classic themes of spanish chessmen - inumerous sets in all kind of mateirals abound - wherever You see a windmill lurking in a chess set - be assured: it is another incarnation of the unforgettable cast of this alltime classic of world literature.
More German ruins
Assorted pieces of an old german set - unremarkable except for the pleasant mellow colour of the light side - ash wood! - with very wide rings on king and queen. These chessmen fell into my hands in an ancient box inscribed on the lid: "Trost in der Gefangenschaft - Krasnoborsk 1915" (consolation in prison of war..), pointing to ownership by a german soldier emprisoned in a Russian war camp in Siberia. This would make them older than WW 1 - but the box might have housed totally different chessmen! I suspect they were made in the Bavarian woods in Cham - which also has a long going tradition of wood carving and - turning, because later sets from this charming city sport similar features. What could the knights have looked like?