A 17th-century chess set donated to the Grünes Gewölbe

1. Paul Solanier (1635-1724) and Paul Heermann (1673-1732)
Chess game, c. 1705-1709
Ivory, ebony, silver, stained horn and tortoise shell - 56.5 x 56.5 x 11.5 cm (detail)
Dresden, Grünes Gewölbe
Photo: Guillaume Benoit

See the image in its page

11/8/23 - Acquisition - Dresden, Grünes Gewölbe - Some birthday presents are more amusing than others: all visitors to the 2022 edition of Tefaf Maastricht (see article) will remember this marvellous ebony and ivory chessboard that seemed to have come straight out of some princely kunstkammer and which has just been donated to the SKD (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung. Acquired from the Kugel gallery, this masterpiece seemed almost destined for Saxon collections. It has now found an ideal home in the new rooms of the legendary Green Vault, inaugurated in 1723 under the aegis of Augustus the Strong and now celebrating its tercentenary [1]. Composed of alternating squares of ivory tinted blue-green and squares of tortoiseshell inlaid with delicate silver motifs, the top is plated with tortoiseshell over silver flakes on the sides, while the base houses two drawers - lined with their original red felt - reserved for the pieces, the largest of which is eight centimetres high. The black chess pieces are made of ebony and rest on gilded silver bases, while the white ones are made of ivory with vermeil bases. Paul Solanier’s PS mark can be found on the underside of the bases.

2. Paul Solanier (1635-1724) and Paul Heermann (1673-1732)
Chess game, c. 1705-1709
Ivory, ebony, silver, stained horn and tortoise shell - 56.5 x 56.5 x 11.5 cm (detail)
Dresden, Grünes Gewölbe
Photo: Guillaume Benoit

See the image in its page

Received as a master in 1665, he was one of the leading silversmiths in the city of Augsburg, where he had a long and prolific career until his death in 1724, but the bases also bear the Augsburg hallmark corresponding to the…