Green Vault shows baroque chess game in new exhibition

A rare baroque chess set is the focus of an exhibition one year after it was acquired for Saxony's Green Vault Treasury Museum. The show "Chess! Fürstliche Spielwelten" (Chess! Princely Game Worlds) will shed light on one of the oldest and best-known strategy games from this Friday, according to an announcement by the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD). The magnificent chess set with carved ivory and ebony pieces, created between 1705 and 1709, is surrounded by around 25 other exhibits from the SKD's collection and private collections as well as contemporary works.

The Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation (Berlin) acquired the masterpiece from private ownership in 2023 and donated it to the Green Vault as a permanent loan to mark its 300th anniversary. The luxurious chess set from the time of the museum's founder, Elector Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), is made of ivory, ebony, tortoiseshell and silver.

According to the SKD, the ivory and ebony figures, white and black, are no more than eight centimetres tall and were created by Paul Herrmann, who, alongside Balthasar Permoser, was one of the most important Baroque sculptors in Saxony and Central Europe. The Augsburg goldsmith Paul Solanier added gold and silver plinths to them, while Heinrich Eichler the Elder, who originally came from Saxony, created the wooden casket with inlays of tortoiseshell, ivory and silver.

According to the SKD, 14 ceremonial chess sets were originally listed in the historical inventories of the Green Vault, including three with ivory and ebony figures - none of which have survived. The magnificent chess set, which appeared on the art market during a Christie's auction in London, has therefore filled a gap in the inventory.