Early Modernist Chessmen
I cannot tell a lot about this chess set other than I very much like its unusual look. The sculptural design seems to be rooted in the visual language of the European modernist movements of the early 20th century, with elements of Art Deco, Bauhaus-inspired abstraction and organic modernism. Rather than depicting figurative or classic chess iconography, the pieces are reduced to elementary geometric forms, such as cylinders, cones, spheres etc. I asked AI for an analysis and it suggested that the set shows a conceptual affinity with Josef Hartwig’s Bauhaus Chess Set, but also mentioned an alignment with Art Deco design and stylistic proximity to designers such as Jean Dunand, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Constantin Brâncuși. A conservative dating would be first half of the 20th century, probably from the interwar-period.
AI described the design and iconography of each pieces as follows:
“Each piece is reduced to its essential idea:
- Pawns form a quiet, disciplined base of compact cylindrical bodies, their small spherical heads emphasizing anonymity and collectivity.
- Rooks appear as architectural solids, stripped of battlements or militaristic reference, evoking stability and spatial order.
- Knights are radically abstracted, their sharp, directional forms expressing movement rather than animal representation.
- Bishops rise as elegant obelisks, suggesting diagonal force and elevation without ecclesiastical symbolism.
- The Queen balances authority and refinement, her rounded mass crowned with a restrained ornamental accent.
- The King, defined by a dominant sphere and stylized crown, represents sovereignty as an abstract principle rather than a personal figure.
The absence of traditional iconography—crosses, mitres, or heraldic detail—places the set squarely within a secular, modern worldview, characteristic of progressive design in the 1920s and 1930.”
I am not sure, if I would describe the bishops as obelisks - AI might have mixed them up with the knights. And a certain traditional chess iconography is visible in that the Kings have crowns and the bishops have the classical mitre cut know from Staunton sets. Also, the queens with their large spherical head resemble early English pieces. But apart from that the AI analysis gives a certain idea how to potentially "read" the design of this set.
The white side pieces are made from Karelian birch, which in my view is one of the most wonderful and most special materials used for chess sets. The dark pieces seem to be made of walnut. The king size is 6.8 cm. All pieces have green felts on the underside. The pieces are shown on a board made with Karelian birch veneer, which is not original to the pieces, but a very good fit in my personal opinion. So far, I have only seen one almost similar example of this set.
