Cantonese Export "Burmese" Ivory Chess Set, ca. 1820-1850

Cantonese Export Ivory Chess Set, "Burmese" Pattern, ca. 1820-1850

This is another Chinese export ivory set produced in the early / mid 19th century presumably in Canton. King size is 83 mm (ca. 3.25"). One side stained in red, the other side left natural. It follows the "Burmese" pattern, but is a rather unusual example of this design. It does have the typical pierced foliage crowns of the kings and queens, in this case with cross finials on the kings and bud finials on the queens. The stems, however, are much more massive and less ornate than in the usual "Burmese" sets, monobloc turned from solid ivory. The bishops with mitre cuts and large cross finials. The knights as horses' heads. The rooks as brickwork turrets with small carved entrances at the bottom. The pawns with baluster shaped stems and a ball finial. All pieces with circular bases.

A bit of a break in style, the set is shown on a late 19th century Indian chess board. It is a very beautiful example of Indian marquetry and sgraffito work typical for just a handful of workshops in the Vizagatapam area. The board is based on a solid sandalwood base plate on which ivory veneers for the white squares and horn veneers for the black squares were applied. The broad rim is decorated with flower and foliage ornaments applied as sgraffito work. The pattern is drawn on the ivory and worked into the ivory with small incisions. Then molten lac is poured into the cuts, and when it is dry, scraped off and polished so that only the lac in the pattern incisions remains.
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