Earliest European chessmen

Many medieval chess sets or isolated chess pieces have been found in several places of Europe. There are two kinds of design: abstract design and figurative design.

Abstract Chess Sets

Abstract design has been inspired by Muslim design. Actually, many abstract sets found in Europe are in fact of Muslim manufacturing. This is for example the case with many sets made of rock crystal which have been manufactured in the Fatimid Egypt.

Generally, this design shows Kings with the shape of a throne, Queens very similar but smaller, Bishops present two small protuberances which are the forgotten reminiscence of the Elephant's tusks, Knights have a single protuberance representing the head of the Horse and the Rooks present a V cut on the top, which has been interpreted as a bishop's miter in several European regions. Pawns usually have a simple shape.

Some abstract pieces are finally not abstract at all as the artists have carved them with so many details that they are as informative and elaborated that the figurative sets.

Mozarab chess pieces known as "the pieces of San Genadio". Deer antler. Once preserved in the Mozarabic monastery of Santiago de Peñalba (León/ Spain), now in Ponferrada. Dated at least from the first years of the 10th century, and very likely from the 9th century.
(Many thanks to Miguel Angel Nepomuceno. Miguel Angel Nepomuceno is the investigator who found those 4 pieces, the most ancient chessmen in Europe, in 1958. He took the photograph (left) which has been utilized by the regretted Dr. Calvo in his subsequent papers. Those pieces had been first described and photographied in 1923 but had then diseappeared until their new discovery in 1958).

Pieces from San Rosenda de Celanova (province of Orense, Galicia, Spain), rock crystal, 10th c.

Pieces from San Millan de la Cogolla (La Rioja, Spain), rock crystal, 10th c.

The Ager set: Mozarab chess set, rock-crystal, Museu de Lleida Diocesa I Comarcal, Spain, late 9th c - beg. 11th c.

King and Queen from the same set found at church of San Pere of Ager near Urgel, Catalonia, beg 11th c.

Rook, rock-crystal,
Late 9th - beg. 11th c.,
Domschatzkammer, Osnabrück

Osnabrück set, wrongly said "Charlemagne" (another one!), rock-crystal, 12th century (or 10th?.
(Photo Leo Hovestadt, Picasa)

Italian Chess pieces, bone with ivory topping, late 10th c., found at Venafro, Campania, Italy and once considered the oldest European pieces, Museo archeologico di Napoli . Read a paper (in Italian) from Gianfelice Ferlito

Whale bone chessmen,
Late 11th c., found at Witchampton, Dorset

Knight found in Europe (where?) and made in Arabic style, 8th-9th c. (!?) according to C. Schafroth , ivory, Musée du Louvre, Paris

King (?), deer bone or antler,
end of 10th c., found at Loisy,
Musée des Ursulines,Mâcon

Scandinavian (?) Knight, deer antler,
9/10th c., found near Chatenois (Alsace, France), Musée de Cluny, Paris

Rook, from castel of Freteval, Loir et Cher, France (thanks to François Houdebert).

Same piece with a better view to this strange face on the side

Rook, deer bone,
978-1070, Pineuilh, Gironde, France

Kneeled piece (Pawn?),
978-1070, Pineuilh, Gironde, France

King or Queen, Cluny, France

Queen, hazeltree wood,
1008-1010, Paladru Lake
Colletière, Charavines, Isère, France

Aufin (Bishop), wood,
1008-1010, Paladru Lake
Colletière, Isère, France

Rukh (Rook), bone,
1008-1010, Paladru Lake
Colletière, Isère, France

Chess piece from a private collection. Bone. Maybe a King or a Queen. See beside for more views. Estimated 11th c.collection
(Collection Nicolas Devigne)

Scandinavian Chess pieces,
bone, Beginning 11th c. (or 12th?),
Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum

Scandinavian Knight, Bishop, Pawn,
deer bone, Beginning 11th c.,
Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum

A Chess Pawn (?), Nassington, Tithe Barn Museum, UK

Knight, red deer antler,
12th century, Malting, Museum of St Albans Hertfordshire, UK

Islamic-style Elephant (Bishop), Spain or Sicily, 12th c., ivory
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alfil (Bishop), wrongly announced as a Knight, castle of Mataplana, circa Ripoll, Catalunya, Spain, probably early 13th c., ivory, (thanks to Alejandro Melchor)

The same piece and a dice, castle of Mataplana, circa Ripoll, Catalunya, Spain, probably early 13th c., ivory (thanks to Alejandro Melchor)

Chessmen excavated from river Thames, England, 13th c : bone King, wood King, unidentified (Queen?), Bishop on top. Bishop, bone King side and above view showing the hollow..

Rook, Lower Rhein, Germany, 11th century	Rook, UK, 12th century
Rook, UK, 13th century	Rook, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 13th century

King Sandomierz, Poland	Pawn Sandomierz, Poland
Sandomierz Chess pieces, deer bone, end of 11th c. or beginning of 12th, Disctric Museum, Sandormiertz, Poland

Very beautiful Scandinavian Bishop, narwhal tooth, 12th century (courtesy of Rodolfo Pozzi)

Bishop, "sea ivory", Collection Jean-Joseph Marquet de Vasselot, England or Germany, 12th century
(the ivory has been dated between AD 790 and 990 at 95% by carbon 14) (photo Christie)
(Société des Amis du musée de Cluny)

Scandinavian or German Chessmen, deer bone, found at Ilot des Deux-Bornes, around Noyon, Oise
Beg 12th c., Musée du Noyonnais, Noyon, France

King, ivory,
11th c., South of Italia
Musée du Louvre, Paris

French Roc (Rook), both faces, elephant ivory,
Mid 12th century, Musée du Louvre, Paris

King, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy

Rook (Pawn?), Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence, Italy

King (also said as Knight),
ivory, 12th c, France
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy

Rook (Tower), ivory, late 11th c (or 14th?).,Italy
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy

Common chess set from end of 14th c., walrus and sperm whale ivory, Scandinavia, Musée National du Moyen-Âge, Cluny, France

King or Queen (?), Yorkshire, England, 14th c.

Figurative Chess Sets

Chariot, deer bone or antler,
10th c., found at Loisy,
Musée des Ursulines,Mâcon

South Italian Elephant,
elephant ivory, Late 11th c.,
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Swedish Queen, 11th century

The "Charlemagne set", elephant ivory, South Italia, Late 11th c,
Bibliothèque Nationale - Cabinet des Médailles, Paris

South Italian Kings, black and red, front and back-side
elephant ivory, beg. 12th c.,
Museo Bargello, Florence, Italy

South Italian Vizier, elephant ivory,
Beginning 12th c., Bibliothèque Nationale - Cabinet des Médailles, Paris

Queen, Spain, an Kings, ivory, 12th c.,
Wlaters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA

South Italian Queen, ivory,
Beginning 12th c., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Skulpturensammlung



Scandinavian Bishop, walrus ivory, Trondheim, Norway, 1150-1200, (thanks to Emile Lhomme) (Property of M.E.T.)

German King, bone or antler,
found at Dorf Langenbogen near Mansfeld (Saxony)
Mid 12th c., ex-von Hirsch coll.

Norvegian King, walrus ivory,
Late 12th c., Musée du Louvres, Paris

Islandic Chess piece (Pawn or Warder=Rook?), herringbone, 12th or 13th c. Found in an archeology expedition at Siglunes by Siglufjördur. (Thanks to Sean Evans)


The "Lewis set", King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Warder, Pawn., walrus tusk Scandinavian (Trondheim ?), Mid 12th c, British Museum, London


Scandinavian Chess pieces: King, Knight, Knight Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy


Seated figure of the Church (Ecclesia), walrus ivory, North Germany or Scandinavian, 13th century, Staatliches Museum Schwerin (thanks to Alain Truong)

Scandinavian Bishop, walrus ivory, Beginning 13th c., Copenhagen, Nationalmuseum (The holes in the eyes were filled by jewels)	Knight, walrus ivory, England, 13th c. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England	Bishop, ivory, 14th c., Germany Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Munich, Germany
Queen on horseback, walrus ivory, Denmark, 13th c. Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen	Queen on horseback, walrus ivory, Denmark, 14th c. Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen	King (I doubt, it should be a Queen), ivory, 14th c., Danmark Copenhagen, Nationalmuseum

Wooden Queen known as the "Bryggens Madonna" which has shrunk since it has been exposed to air, Bergen Museum, Norway

The "Bryggens Madonna" photographed just when it has been exhumed from damp layers.
14th c., Bergen, Norway

Bishop, walrus tusk, Northern Europe, 14th c. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin		Knight, Northern Europe, 14th c. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
King, ivory, Germany, 14th c., private collection	Bishop, walrus tusk, Germany, 14th c., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	Bishop, ivory, Southern Germany, 14th c., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

The images and photographs shown on this page are coming from the following sources :

Jean-Michel Péchiné, "Roi des jeux, jeu des rois, les échecs", Découvertes Gallimard, 1997 : this small French book is a wonderful !
Neil Stratford, "The Lewis Chessmen and the enigma of the hoard", British Museum Press, 1997.
"Pièces d'échecs", Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des médailles et antiques, catalogue de l'exposition du 7 juin au 30 septembre 1990.
Alessandro Sanvito (catalogo a cura di), "L'arte degli scacchi", Edizioni Sylvestre Bonnard, 2000.
Isaac Linder, "The Art of Chess Pieces", H.G.S. Publishers, Moscow, 1994.
Gareth Williams, "Master Pieces", Apple Press, London, 2000.
H.J.R.Murray, "A History of Chess", Oxford, 1913.
Colleen Schafroth, "L'Art des échecs", éditions de La Martinière, Paris, 2002 (The Art of Chess, Berenson Design & Books, New York, 2002)
A. Capece, "Le grand livre de l'Histoire des échecs", éditions De Vecchi, Paris, 2001
Web site from the BNF, Paris
Marilyn Yalom, "Birth Of The Chess Queen: A History", Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2004
Asian Games The Art of Contest, Asia Society, 2004
Chess Collector International, 12th Convention - May 2006 in Berlin - Program

The authors of theses works, books and photographs, are kindly acknowledged.
If there is any problem with their presence here, please do mail me.

Many thanks to Sylvestre Jonquay, Association Aisling-1198, for his precious remarks and kind corrections,
Many thanks to Thierry Depaulis and François Leysour de Rohello for pointing many illustrations to me
Thanks also to Eric Verdel for informations about the Charavines-Colletière pieces
Thanks also to Antoine Fourrière for pointing out the pieces from Pineuilh
and to Nicolas Devigne for the piece from his collection
Many thanks to Alejandro Melchor for providing me valuable information
Thanks to Pierre Mille for the Serçe Limani photographs
Thanks to Gianfelice Ferlito for the Venafro photograph
Thanks to Emile Lhomme and Ole Drønen for noting an error
Thanks to Rodolfo Pozzi, Emile Lhomme, Sean Evan
Muchas gracias a Miguel Angel Nepocumenos y Jesus Remis Fernandez
Many thanks also to Carmen Romeo

15/07/2024