Chessville - Alekhine's Parrot Show Cage #2

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The Parrot's
Show Cage #2

If you have a chess-related item that you would like to discover more about,
write to The Parrot. Your answers will be featured here.

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Cage 2 - Chinese Chess Set

Can Chessville readers supply information on this beautiful old set?

And the clues are: Apparently the pieces are suppose to be rulers from one of the dynasties.

The Chessville reader’s mother who bought the set could not remember which dynasties are represented. The board has a latch and also a lock that slides into position.

“My mother brought this set back from China. I know nothing about it other than the pieces look handmade and it is pretty old... also the light side is made out of camel bone.”

So… The questions are:

1) Are the dark pieces also camel bone? If not, what?
2) Does camel bone date when the set was made? And is the material currently used?
3) Is it typical of a style or region?
4) Who is being represented by the pieces? If these are dynastic representations, which dynasties?
5) Are there similar sets representing other dynasties?
6) What is the estimated worth of this “Dynastic” set?
7) The set is obviously not turned but hand-carved, The Parrot wants to know if the set is factory-made or from an individual craftsman.
8) Is it a one-off design and unique, or if popular, how many sets like this would have been produced?
9) Have any readers attempted to hand-carve a set [that is, not turned on a lathe], what tools, especially for any sets not made of wood, and what process do you recommend?
10) Can anyone say how long it would take to carve a set of this quality?

These pictures have been provided by a Chessville reader who owns the set and would like to discover more about it.

Do you have any information about this Show Cage?
Write to The Parrot !!

Reader's Responses:

Dear Parrot, The item you feature in Show Cage #2 is nothing but anything to lure buyers into the known "shipping" scam. This scam is to have purchasers think their buying a "beautiful and very rare" chess set for a $0.99 or $3.99 starting price. When illusions set in, one doesn't notice that at the bottom of the listing, there is a shipping quote: an unscrupulous amount of GBP 86.00. No serious collectors offer any real bidding because these sets aren't really attractive. Who knows what these sets are made out of. They could be plastic, camel bone, etc. The seller should list this information in the auction. Most of these sellers don't even have anything higher than a 97.8% feedback rating. Take for example the following auctions: http://cgi.ebay.com/Chic-wood-chess-with-wood-leather-box-dragon-phoenix_W0QQitemZ8794297936QQcategoryZ2554QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem; http://cgi.ebay.com/Wonderful-chess-with-superb-box_W0QQitemZ8794299918QQcategoryZ2554QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem; http://cgi.ebay.com/Elegant-chess-with-superb-skin-box_W0QQitemZ8794308332QQcategoryZ2554QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. The third one is my favorite: 110 Euro for shipping? Hope this information helps. Take care! Best Regards, Lawrence Totaro Las Vegas, NV
Parrot, You might be depressed by this, but go to eBay and search for Chess China. You'll see a ton of these come up. Lynn, Coal River Pictures
Dear Parrot, I bought a very, very similar one off of Ebay a while back and have been trying to find the origins and nature of the set myself. It cost me $25. Since then, I've seen at least 4 sets that are nearly identical, with only minor changes to the design on the outside or how the pieces are stored on the inside. For instance, mine as people playing chess on one side instead of the flowers and dragons on this one. Also, the inside of mine only has Chinese(?) lettering, not the pictures featured in this set. The actual pieces are identical though. Its a very, very nice set, though I'm not sure what the pieces are made of. The Ebay ad inferred it was camel bone and from the composition, that seems right. Its certainly not wood or any other more "common" material. This was a while ago, but I think I was told it was from the Mao Jhong period. I can't really remember. A quick search of "chess" on Ebay just turned up three similar sets available now in the $10 range. I've included pictures of one of those sets, as you can see, the pieces are nearly identical - leading me to believe it is some industrial process that makes these pieces. Finally, one last note: I was thrilled when I got my set, though quickly realized that the "inlay" holding the pieces seemed to be made of felt covered plastic. You can see a similar situation in the first picture in this set. I'm willing to bet that that inlay is the same as mine. I don't know for sure that its plastic, but I've had it out and look pretty closely at it. All that considered, its a pretty nice set. I'm very happy with mine even if it is more mass produced than I thought at the time I bought it. Gorgeous work on the pieces and if it is industrially produced, they spent some time faking it. I'd love to know any additional information you get back about the set. Sincerely, Bryan Redding
Hi ya, [Parrot], if you really want to know: that set is worth about 15 U.S. bucks, and is made of pine, not camel bone (!). They are produced in northeast Chinese factories and sold all over the place here. I bought the same set about a year ago in in Pingyao, Shanxi. just a note, from, Old China Bob :)
Actually, I can't tell you a thing about the set... but the box is very interesting!! (BTW, you should show larger photos of the writing inside, as Chinese-speakers may be able to read what's written there.) The box has a Chinese word on the lid, "Seong Hei" or Double Happiness, and is associated with weddings and couples, so would be on a wedding present... The wedding couple are represented in China by the male and female signs of Dragon and Phoenix (Loon Fung), and these signs are all over it; the other side of the lid, also on either side of the Chinese word, and on both sides of the playing board itself, so I think that's significant. I can't help with the pieces at all, but I hope this is of some use to you. Regards, Jim Johnston