- Red Bone Pulpit Set -
This must be my most macabre chess set, roughly carved bones in a Spanish style reminiscent of Dia De Los Muertos. It's quite different from my other Mexican Bone Set in style. It lacks the dagger pawns, regularity of knights, etc.. but these bones are whittled down much thinner. This carving is delicate. Whereas later sets are only textured these pieces are massively pierced. Long lines are carved completely through the bones turning each piece body into a macabre rib cage to truly bring the skeleton set to life. Halloween is a happy occasion, and these pieces are brightly painted. This is no sombre set. I should point out now that I have no idea if these sets have anything particular to do with the October holidays or if they are even considered by their makers to be Macabre. I know very little about what part these chess sets play in Mexican/Spanish culture. They just remind me of the brightly colored skeleton decorations I've seen around Day of the Dead for what I think are obvious reasons. I acquired this set for what struck me as another surprisingly low price from eBay. This is the second time I've been lucky on one of these bone sets. I've seen them sell for much more than I paid, and I've heard people say these 'used to bring a lot.' Still though, if their value has gone down, the red sets are quite a bit rarer than the black; the painting and the piercing makes this one a great example.
Red Bone Pulpit Set.
A position from the Spanish Game chess opening.
And one from the 'bloody' Frankenstein-Dracula line of the Vienna. (The foreground knight has just captured black's rook in the corner and trapped the black king in the middle of the board, but the position in far from clear; black has incredible counterplay.)
There's a great deal of variation between the hand-carved knights.
Each of the four knights has a different feeling about it.
This red knight's features are the most extreme; it is almost a caricature.
Bleach bone army prepares for the march. Note the delicate pierced 'ribs cage' bodies of the pieces.
An uneasy feeling from the red king.
The white side is painted with speckles of red and green. The green specks have faded almost completely.
Red pieces, already died, are ornamented only by the carving.
White bone forces.
Red minor pieces.
Red bishop.
A bit more light on the Spanish Game this time.
Representative pieces.
Red skeleton tower.