Chess set
Category
Sports equipment, games and pastimes
Date
c. 1850
Materials
Sandalwood, ebony, ivory, horn, and lac
Measurements
80 mm (H)350 mm (W)175 mm (D)
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246439
Summary
Chess set, mid-19th century, Vizagapatam, India. The chess board and box are made of sandalwood veneered in ivory and ebony, and engraved with decorative foliage and flowers filled in with lac (a resinous substance secreted by the lac insect). The white chessman are made of ivory, the black of horn. The chess set was a gift to Mrs Greville from Queen Mary. A typed card inside reads 'Best wishes from Queen Mary'. It was previously catalogued as 18th century.
Provenance
The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. These items found on the record for Polesden Lacey Study, page 14. discovered in Basement by House Steward
Marks and inscriptions
'Best wishes from Queen Mary' (typed on card inside box)