Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Here are some images of a chess set I got a few years ago from the local Goodwill Store.
I don't know what the pieces are made of. They are heavy and made of some kind of stone, ceramic material?
The board is made of wood and the same kind of material the pieces are made of.
The pieces seem to depict Conquistadors that are white and Aztecs or Incas that are green.
The board has two sides that have slide out drawers to hold the pieces.
I collect chess sets and have never seen one like this before. Anyone that has any info or clues about this one, please let me know.

Will

!. Starting battle.

(Download)

2. White side.

(Download)

3. Green side.

(Download)

4. White pawn.

(Download)

5. Green castle

(Download)

6. White Queen.

(Download)

7. Green king.

(Download)

8. White castle.


9. In the center of battle.

(Download)

10. Ovehead view of board.

(Download)

maggiemae Loc: North Carolina

Thats pretty cool. Have you ever got it appraised? It could be worth some money.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thanks for looking Maggiemae. No, I have never had it appraised. Maybe I should.

will

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

Great shots of an unique chess set, well done. chase

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Nice shots all. I would like to have the opportunity to play one game with it. Not that it would improve my play but it would remind me again of the magnificence of the game.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

That's nice. I have been planning to make one of those and sell them as unique pieces.
I just have not gotten time yet to start it.
What do you suggest? I had my mind stuck on knights vs orcs.

fjdarling Loc: Mesa, Arizona, USA

It's a beautiful set, that's for sure. If you find out that it's also special in some other way, please let us know.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thank you Chase. Appreciate you taking the time to look and comment.

will

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thanks for the visit. I used to play a lot in my younger days, but not much now.

will

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Mayan style pyramids and the head dresses also. Probably made in the Yucatan region of Mexico or Central America. Also the material is Mexican Green Jade (a form of Malachite) and White Jade (a form of Tremolite) they are often used for jewelry or small sculptures. Well it may be a man made imitation, I can't tell from the pictures.

I have a wooden chess set I got in Michoacán State back in the early 70's when I was there all summer as part of a graduate level field school. Mine is in the style of the Purepecha or Tarascans. All figures look like people of their culture or in the case of Rooks/Castles their traditional style homes and the Knights are Burros. The area where our field school studied the Purepecha are renowned as wood workers. Including musical instruments like the guitar I also brought back. They also make platters, jewel boxes etc. that are covered in "laca" with the designs cut through a thick base layer and filled in with different colors.

Purepecha is their name for themselves and the name of their language-I was told it meant Us or Persons/Our People and Tarascan was a name given to them by the Spanish and means "the cousins".

The Spanish thought they were "cousins" of the Aztec. Actually they were the Aztec's major rivals and enemies. One reason the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztec was that a huge portion of their army were young and inexperienced replacements for a large force destroyed by the Purepecha in a war just a few years before the Spanish came.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thanks for taking a look. I think Knights and Orcs would be a good set, I haven't seen that done yet.

will

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment.
I will, I am doing some investigating on it now.

Will

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

Thanks for the info Robert. These pieces are Malachite and Tremolite. They are not manmade. They are supposedly hand carved.
Found this out by doing a Google search, that led to some similar sets on ebay.
The ones on ebay were going for $150 -$300. And they didn't look as good as my set.

Will

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Good that they are real and not cheap knock offs. A lot of places they still value hand crafted things.
I think I will get out my macro gear and lights and do some shots of the Guitar, Chess Set, Masks and Jewelry box I got from that trip I took. And scan the hundreds of photos and slides from the field school - I was the photo nut in the group and became the default "Field School Photographer".