A TRIO SET OF ROCK CRYSTAL OBJECTS A Tiny Fatimid Rock Crys...

Estimate

£1,500 - £2,000

A TRIO SET OF ROCK CRYSTAL OBJECTS A Tiny Fatimid Rock
Crystal Chess or Backgammon Piece, Fatimid Period, Egypt, 10-11th Century
A tiny rock crystal piece of domed cylindrical form, slightly patelliform, carved with deep bevel-cut ribs, 2x1.8cm, 5 gram
A Fatimid Rock Crystal Chess or Backgammon Piece, Fatimid Period, Egypt, 10-11th Century
Rock crystal chess piece of domed cylindrical form, slightly patelliform, carved with deep bevel-cut ribs, either represents Shah or Vizier, 2.8x1.5cm, 15 gram
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), 2.5cm diameter, 27gr weight

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)