Master Works - Slipcased Edition: Rare and Beautiful Chess Sets o

MCLAIN, DYLAN LOEB

ISBN 10: 0995745501 / ISBN 13: 9780995745506

Published by FUEL Publishing, 2016, 2017

About this Item

A collection of rare and luxurious chess sets, shown in color photographs. First edition. 232 pp.; illustrated from photographs. A fine copy in a fine slipcase.

Seller Inventory # 013114

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Master Works - Slipcased Edition: Rare and Beautiful Chess Sets o
• Publisher: FUEL Publishing, 2016
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0995745501
• ISBN 13: 9780995745506
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Decorative Arts

About this title

Synopsis

Chess, one of the worlds most popular games, has inspired artists for hundreds of years. Though apparently offering a limited canvas each set has 32 pieces, each board 64 squares sets have nevertheless been designed in countless ways, using almost every imaginable from precious metals, to ivory and rock crystal. They have taken many forms, from figural to abstract, and used many diverse themes, from the historical and political to the beauty and variety of the animal kingdom. This book brings together some of the most beautiful and unusual chess sets ever made. Over hundreds of years, from five continents, they are culled from private collections and museums, 200 year-old sets made by nameless Indian craftsmen; sets by Peter Carl Faberg; sets from Soviet gulag prisoners; and sets by leading artists of the 20th century, like Max Ernst. Each set has been especially photographed for this book, with detailed insights provided by an exceptional group of Dr. George Dean, Jon Crumiller, Larry List, Barbara Drake Boehm (senior curator of the Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and William Wiles (Dezeen), with an introduction by the books editor, Dylan Loeb McClain, (former New York Times chess columnist).

Review

Masterworks: Rare and Beautiful Chess Sets of the World...features exquisitely crafted games originating in a wide variety of countries, cultures, and eras. (Collectors Weekly)

Showcases striking boards and pieces from the past five centuries. (Alexandra Wolf Wall Street Journal)

Delves into the wider, richer world of chess set design – one informed by politics, social upheaval, folklore, contemporary movements in art and design and more. Edited by former New York Times chess columnist Dylan McClain and designed and published by Fuel, Master Works: Rare and Beautiful Chess Sets of the World runs a startlingly broad gamut. (Tom Howells Wallpaper)