Volume 9–2 (Low Res).pdf

6
lam century German
craftsmanship, with figures rendered
in minute, painstaking detail. But
in Arabic countries, where Islamic
law forbids the representation of
human forms, chess pieces were
designed in the abstract. When the
game took hold in Europe, craftsmen
again showed their stuff; carv-
ing, tooling and indulging flights of
fancy and extravagant techniques.
Exquisitely carved sets were also pro-
duced in China, Burma and Africa.
T he
materials used in
creating chesspeople
have been as varied
as the designs themselves. Porce-
lain, ivory, bone, jade, glass, amber,
ebony, malachite, marble, silver,
gold, stainless steel and wood, of
course, to mention just a few. In
size, chess sets have varied from
miniature pocket sets (board
included) to life-sized figures. And
there are actual cases on record