- Replica Charlemagne Set -
Sometime in the 19th century it was a popular idea that every great leader should play chess. Stories were told about a very fine set of chessmen given to Charlemagne by Caliph Harun al-Rashid. The legend persists today; there's even a modern novel about this fictitious chess set. One of the chess sets mistakenly identified as the Charlemagne set probably dates from 11th century Italy and sits at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Chess History has a good page about it. And you can rotate a few of the pieces 360 degrees if you don't mind reading in French. I was so enamored with this pattern when I was resin casting a while back I started making my own replica Charlemagne set... I had big plans to create different shaped pieces for each side, a Normand army with the pointy cowls vs. a Byzantium army with the pudding-bowel helmets etc, but I only got as far as an elephant and a pawn. A Canadain artist has cast his own replica in Hydrastone. It's not the Charlemagne set I would have made, but it is a pretty set, and kudos to him for following through where I did not.
Replica Charlemagne set.
White elephant. This design is old enough the bishops are represented as war elephants.
Their move would have been a two square diagonal jump, a weak piece compared to the bishop of modern chess.
Keep in mind the queen's move would only have been a single square. Early chess was a slower game. The "Elephant Gambit" chess opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 with 3. ... Bd6 (two squares like the elephant) to follow is named for this ancient chess piece.
Royal pieces.
Elephants
White knight prepares to out flank the enemy.
Dark knight lies in wait. (Very few pictures of the black side turned out.
The reflective sheen created too many "hot spots" of light screwing up the autofocus... not the world's best camera.)
War chariot, or rook.
The pawn in this set is iconic.
Symmetrical horses like a medieval tapestry.
Ivory royalty, like the figures on a Cathedral.
My resin Charlemagne bishop compared to the hydrastone one. Here stand two very different replica Charlemagne elephants, both are good.
Again, my pawn on the left, Canadian pawn on the right. Sorry about the focus.
