Photograph: Bone chess piece, shaped like a cylinder with a small ball on top. It is decorated with lines and tiny circles with dots in the centre.
See a larger image

Chessman

Date: 1100s - 1200s

Chess came from India in the 500s and spread through the Arab world, reaching Europe in the late 900s. It became a popular war strategy game among the educated classes. Because of the ban on images of people and animals in Muslim countries the pieces became stylised, and the designs were adopted in Europe. This piece, a king, is a version of the Arabic design of an Indian king on an elephant. The ball on top represents the king, the diagonal grooves below are his throne (howdah) and the lower part of the piece is the elephant.

Accession number: 18680

Place of collection: St Swithin's House, 30-37 Walbrook EC4 [City of London] [GM158, 1949-1950] [Salters' Hall]

Material: bone

Measurements: H 44 mm; DM 26.5 mm

Gallery location: Case 17.5

Related material

Subjects:

Leisure

Objects:
    The Museum of London Group is funded by the City of London and the Greater London Authority. Museum of London, London Wall, LONDON EC2Y 5HN, United Kingdom. Copyright & legal notices. This site is maintained by the Museum IT Team.