War Chess Sets. Chess sets which depict wars are very collectible. Some were made during the war years while others commemorate wars. Both antique and modern chess sets in these themes can be found. Antique ones were often made to be played but modern ones tend to be more for collectors.
Below are some examples and price guides of war chess sets including an early 19th prisoner of war chess set and a rare Soviet “Reds against Whites” chess set made from porcelain.
A RARE SOVIET PORCELAIN CHESS SET ‘THE REDS AGAINST THE WHITES’
State Porcelain Factory, Leningrad, USSR, 1933-1934, after design by Natalia Danko (1892-1942)
On the White side: the King is designed as Death draped in black ermine-lined cloak and holding a sword and long bone; the Queen as Fortuna with a cornucopia spilling gold coins: the Knights as White Army officers dressed in gold and black uniforms; the Bishops as armoured horses surmounted with double-headed eagles, the Rooks as sail boats with crowed masts and sails decorated with pole axe within chain garland; and the Pawns as chained serfs; on the Red side: the King is designed as a blacksmith leaning on a large hammer, the Queen as a peasant maiden holding stalk of wheat and field flowers in one arm and a sickle in the other; the Knights as soldiers dressed in uniform of the Red Army and standing next to the hammer and sickle on the star-shaped pedestal; the Bishops as horses rising from overlapping red stars; the Rooks as sail boats of two slightly varying designs with masts supporting sails in shape of pink stars; and the Pawns as young male peasants holding golden stalks of wheat and silver sickles, all marked underside with blue factory mark
Sold for £ 47,750 (US$ 55,821) inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2020
SET OF PRISONER-OF-WAR CARVED BONE AND WOOD CHESS PIECES
Britain/France, Early 19th Century
Complete set of 32 pieces, the black pieces carved from wood or with wood plinths, and the white pieces entirely in bone. Some polychroming. Includes a lift-top mirrored shadow box for display.
Heights from 1.5″ to 2.5″. Box height 5″. Length 14″. Width 12″.
Sold for US$2,500 at Eldred’s in 2022
