Japanese Ivory Chess Set, mid 20th century

Japanese Ivory Chess Set, mid 20th century

 This is a wonderful Japanese chess set consisting of small netsuke ivory carvings. It most likely dates to mid 20th century. The set comes in a lacquered board box with fitted compartments for the pieces.

The kings with a height of ca. 7 cm are depicting Japanese gentry. The white king is depicted as an official of the court holding a closed fan in front of his chest. The black king is depicted as a samurai carrying a katana at his side. The white queen holds an open fan in front of her chest and wears her hair up. The black queen carries a small casket (possibly a sutra box, in Japanese Kyōbaku (経箔) or Hōkyō (寶篋)) and wears her hair in a long braid. The rooks are depicted as Japanese castles. The knights as horsemen, with the white knights again depicted as plain clothed officials and the black ones as samurai in armour. The bishops are Japanese monks carrying ritual objects. These items include prayer beads (in Japanese called Juzu (数珠)), which the white bishops hold in their right hand and the black bishops in their left. In the other hand, the bishops hold an object that could be a lotus blossom (Seikairen (青開蓮)) or a lotus bud (Shimikairen (紫未開蓮)), but it could also be a sceptre or staff (Shakujō 錫杖)), also known as Pilgrim's Staff. The peasants are depicted as simple subjects carrying a fan. 

It is striking how detailed all the pieces are carved. The depth of detail is particularly impressive in the facial features and in the ornamentation of the robes. The latter have been made in sgraffito technique through small recesses which were subsequently filled with black ink. On the underside of the kings and queens, the pieces are stamped in red with a maker's mark.
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