书名：Early Chess Pieces from the Crossroads of Asia: The Timur Shah Collection / 来自亚洲十字路口的早期象棋棋子：蒂穆尔·沙阿收藏
定价：370.0
ISBN：9781915401212
作者：Deborah Freeman Fahid
版次：1
出版时间：2026-05

内容提要：

书名：Early Chess Pieces from the Crossroads of Asia: The Timur Shah Collection / 来自亚洲十字路口的早期象棋棋子：蒂穆尔·沙阿收藏

作者：Deborah Freeman Fahid

出版：Paul Holberton Publishing，2026年

装帧：精装，168页

语种：英文

尺寸：21.5*26 cm

 

 

这些幸存的稀有国际象棋棋子为我们提供了一个非凡的视角，让我们得以一窥最早塑造这项游戏的各种文化。这些棋子可追溯至7世纪至12世纪，由木材、象牙和发光硬石雕刻而成，它们不仅是一项全球性消遣活动的最早见证，也是具象与抽象雕塑的微型精美艺术品。

国际象棋起源于印度北部，但由波斯萨珊人——中东最后一个伟大的前伊斯兰帝国，自3世纪起统治阿富汗和中亚部分地区——接受并发展。直至7世纪及以后的阿拉伯穆斯林入侵，该地区因来自西方和东方的入侵——希腊人、印度人、贵霜人、伊朗人和匈奴人——而呈现出丰富的文化交融影响。

这些特征中的许多都可以在本卷中一些引人入胜的早期具象棋子上观察到：一枚非凡的木制象棋子描绘了一头横冲直撞的战象，两个人影勉强 clinging 于其身体之上，而第三个人则被踩踏于脚下；另一枚仅3.4厘米高的微型象牙象棋子，立于饰有珍珠边框（一种经典的萨珊纹饰）的底座上，很可能也是一枚国际象棋“象”——这个现代术语是对波斯语中表示该动物的词“pil”的复杂衍生。

本次调查还展出了一大批抽象形状雕刻的棋子——即8至15世纪伊斯兰地区盛行的国际象棋形式。其中有数量惊人的象牙棋子，包括作者所记录过的两枚最大棋子，以及至少三组部分残套。

根据早期文献记载，印度最早使用的国际象棋棋子为红色和绿色，但实物证据几乎未知。本收藏中一项令人兴奋的发现是两枚由红色石材雕刻的棋子：一枚深红色碧玉制成的车，以及一枚由红色砾岩制成的王。两者似乎都属于最早的类型，年代约在8世纪左右。其他精美物件还包括一些由青金石、玉髓和玉石等彩色硬石制成的兵或双陆棋子。

这批非凡且此前未经发表过的国际象棋棋子收藏，是在20世纪下半叶的最初几十年间，从靠近收藏者故土的各地汇集而成。本书旨在将关注点引向这批来自广阔地域的大量棋子，它们为了解创造它们的古代文化提供了深刻洞见。

 

These rare surviving chess pieces offer an extraordinary glimpse into the cultures that first shaped the game. Dating from the 7th to the 12th centuries and carved from wood, ivory and luminous hardstones, these chessmen are not only the earliest witnesses to a global pastime, but also beautiful, miniature works of figurative and abstract sculpture.

The game of chess originated in north India, but was taken up and developed by the Persian Sasanians, the last great pre-Islamic empire of the Middle East, who ruled over parts of Afghanistan and Central Asia from the 3rd century. Up to the Arab Muslim invasions of the 7th century and beyond, this region was notable for a rich blend of cultural influences resulting from invasions from West and East – Greeks, Indians, Kushans, Iranians and Huns.

Many of these traits can be observed in some fascinating early figural chess pieces in this volume: an extraordinary wooden bishop depicts a rampaging war elephant with two human figures barely clinging to its body, while a third is trampled underfoot; another tiny ivory elephant, only 3.4 cm high, standing on a base decorated with a pearl border, a classic Sasanian motif, is probably also a chess ‘bishop’ – the modern term a convoluted derivation from the Persian word for the animal – pil.

This survey also features a large group of chessmen carved in abstract shapes – the form of chess set that prevailed in Islamic lands from the 8th to the 15th century. It features a surprising number of pieces made from elephant ivory, including two of the largest pieces ever recorded by the author, and at least three partial sets.

According to early texts, the first chessmen used in India were coloured red and green, but physical evidence is virtually unknown. An exciting discovery in this collection are two pieces carved from red-coloured stones: a rook made of dark red jasper, and a king made from a red-coloured conglomerate. Both appear to be of the earliest type, dating to around the 8th century. Other beautiful objects include a number of pawns or backgammon pieces made from coloured hardstones such as lapis lazuli, jade and chalcedony.

This remarkable collection of previously unpublished chess pieces was assembled in the first decades of the second half of the 20th century from places close to the owner’s homeland. The book hopes to focus attention on a large group of pieces from a wide area that provide insights into the ancient cultures that produced them.