Chess Set

Currently not on view

Chess Set

Designed 1944; made 1945

This chess set is a modified version of one that Philadelphia-born artist Man Ray designed between about 1920 and 1924. He altered the set for the 1944–45 exhibition The Imagery of Chess at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, where he displayed the newly designed pieces in silver plate and oxidized silver-plated brass. After the exhibition, the set was issued in a limited edition of six, each made of wood and signed and dated by Man Ray.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Chess Set

Date:

Designed 1944; made 1945

Artist:

Medium:

Natural and ebonized birch

Dimensions:

King (height): 3 1/2 inches (8.9 cm) Queen (height): 3 3/8 inches (8.6 cm) Bishop (height): 2 5/8 inches (6.7 cm) Knight (height): 2 3/16 inches (5.6 cm) Rook (height): 2 1/4 inches (5.7 cm) Pawn (height): 1 7/8 inches (4.8 cm)

Classification:

Toys (including dolls, games, puppets)

Credit Line:

Gift of John F. Harbeson, 1964

Accession Number:

1964-91-36(1--32)

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view