Egyptian Themed Metal Chess Set, second half of the 20th century

An Egyptian themed chess set rich in symbolism from ancient Egyptian mythology. The pieces are made of metal, possibly brass and pewter, with the king standing 7 cm tall. The set came in a fitted case.

The kings are depicted as pharaohs wearing a nemes head cloth. The queens are depicted as nude women, possibly symbolising fertility. They wear a tripartite wig, as worn by upper-class women in the Old Kingdom. The rooks are depicted as falcons. In ancient Egypt, the falcon was the symbol of the sky god Horus and the divine power of the pharaohs. It stood for foresight, strength, protection and the triumph of order. The knights are depicted as Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis, who was worshipped as the earthly embodiment of the god Ptah and later also of Osiris. From the New Kingdom onwards, the Apis was depicted with the sun disc between its horns. The bishops are depicted as men wearing a round wig. These round wigs were popular in the New Kingdom and were worn by both sexes and by both the nobility and commoners. In their left hand, the bishops hold an Ankh symbol. The Ankh (also known as the Crux Ansata, the symbol of the Coptic Church) is an ancient Egyptian symbol representing continued life in the Duat, i.e. the afterlife, and as a hieroglyph, it represents life. The farmers are depicted as upright cobras, known in ancient Egyptian iconography as the uraeus. In Ancient Egypt, the uraeus was regarded, among other things, as a protective symbol against demons, with the uraeus warding off the wearer’s enemies with its fiery breath. Both pharaohs and gods were therefore frequently depicted wearing a headdress featuring a uraeus.