Early Chess Pieces from the Crossroads of Asia Deborah Freeman Fahid (Auteur)

Ces rares pièces d’échecs conservées offrent un aperçu extraordinaire des cultures qui ont façonné les origines du jeu. Datant du VIIe au XIIe siècles et sculptées dans le bois, l’ivoire et des pierres dures lumineuses, ces pièces ne sont pas seulement les premiers témoins d’un passetemps universel, mais aussi de magnifiques œuvres miniatures de sculpture figurative et abstraite. The game of chess originated in north India, but was taken up and developed by the Persian Sasanians, the last great pre-Islamic empire of the East, who ruled over parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia from the 3rd century. Up to the Arab Muslim invasions of the 7th century and beyond, this region was notable for a rich blend of cultural influences resulting from invasions from West and East - Greeks, Indians, Kushans, Iranians, and Huns. Many of these traits can be observed in some fascinating early figural chess pieces in this volume: an extraordinary wooden King or ‘Queen’ depicts a rampaging war elephant w