A FATIMID ROCK CRYSTAL CHESS OR BACKGAMMON PIECE, EGYPT, 11T...

Estimate

£1,500 - £2,000

A FATIMID ROCK CRYSTAL CHESS OR BACKGAMMON PIECE, EGYPT, 11TH CENTURY Rock crystal chess piece of domed cylindrical form with vertical ribs, resembling a turban which either represents SHAH (king) or VISIER (Bishop), 3 cm diameter, 40gr
The game of chess, which can be traced back through archaeological evidence to the second or third century, spread from the Indian subcontinent through Persia to centres such as Baghdad and Cairo, from where the present chess piece most probably originates. The feat of carving rock crystal, an extremely hard element, was mastered by the Fatimids in the 10th century as evident from the magnificent, but limited, corpus of remaining works, including ewers, flasks and chess pieces. It was the abundant wealth of the Fatimid Caliphs that permitted them to commission works of such refinement as the present chess piece. A very close example of a rock crystal to be found at the Metropolitan museum New York (AN 1972.9.28)