About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherThames & Hudson

ISBN-100500970912

ISBN-139780500970911

eBay Product ID (ePID)242542114

Product Key Features

Book TitleChess and Other Games Pieces from Islamic Lands

Number of Pages344 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2018

TopicGeneral, Decorative Arts

IllustratorYes

GenreDesign, Games & Activities

AuthorDeborah Freeman Fahid

Book SeriesThe Al-Sabah Collection

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.3 in

Item Weight20 oz

Item Length11.3 in

Item Width9.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2017-963312

Dewey Edition23

Series Volume Number0

Dewey Decimal736/.62

SynopsisAmong the many treasures of The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, are hundreds of games pieces dating from the seventh to the nineteenth century CE. Intricately crafted in a rich variety of materials, including ivory, wood, ceramic, glass, jade, and agate, these tiny objects not only mark the evolution of familiar games into their modern forms, but also evoke the imperial palaces, military camps, and herders' tents in which they were played over many centuries. Some of the most beautiful are a famous group of rock-crystal chess pieces that were kept in a monastery church in northern Spain for more than 800 years. They are presented here alongside other spectacular examples, some of which have never before appeared in a publication, including both early figural chess pieces that originated in India and the Sasanian empire and the more abstract forms that later became popular throughout the Islamic world. Other games pieces, such as dice and pachisi sets and an important medieval Arabic treatise on chess, complete the collection. This volume provides the definitive catalogue of this outstanding group of games pieces, some of which scientific testing has dated with precision for the first time, and includes more than 300 striking images., Among the many treasures of the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, are hundreds of chess and other games pieces dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries ce. Intricately crafted in a rich variety of materials, including ivory, wood, ceramic, glass, jade and agate, these tiny objects are of enormous historical and artistic significance. They not only mark the evolution of familiar games into their modern forms, but also evoke the imperial palaces, military camps and herders' tents in which they were played over many centuries, from the Sasanian period through the Islamic era in Central Asia, Iran, present-day Iraq and northern India. The chess pieces include both early figural sets and the more abstract forms that later became popular throughout the Islamic world. Dice, pachesi sets and a medieval Arabic treatise on chess complete the collection.

LC Classification NumberGV1221