Seashell Set

- Seashell Set -

There exist French sets and probably others made from real seashells. It's common for Thai/Cambodian sets to use real cowrie shells as pawns. Elaborate pieces made from real seashells can be confusing in their mixes of different colors and patterns. It's difficult to create a set where opposing sides are easily recognizable. By assembling cast copies of real seashells, I set about to improve on this age-old idea. I have since discovered I was not the first to come up with this idea, but it was a new idea to me. In any event, this set is my most elaborate homemade set to date, and also took by far the most work of the sets I've created. The design is not everyone's taste. I did not go for symmetry of piece signature at all except in color and texture. I let the fact that all pieces are made from seashells be the unifying factor. The only similar signature throughout the set is the base of the pieces. Other than that I endeavoured to give each piece its own character from the shells. The king is built of large, heavy, aggressively spiny, masculine shells. The queen, on the other hand, is sleek and feminine and somewhat figural, a stylized female figure. Bishops are an attempt to replicate the old English bishop signature. See my St. George or Calvert copy set for this kind of bishop. Knights are seahorses. I had to do a great deal of magic to cast them with the gravity method. I didn't use any machines. If you email me, I may tell you the secret of how I did it, but it'll take some persuasion. Rooks are thick towers. I imagine them as tall lighthouses viewed from below. The taper is perspective. Pawns are snails or hermit crabs. As designs go, it's all over the place. But I hope the seashell theme and the bases do enough to tie it together. It is my first completely original design for a chess set, and I'd like to think it might be a good start.