Chess piece, Cairo, Egypt, AH 364–441/975–1050 CE © The Al Thani Collection. All rights reserved. Photography by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.

This large Fatimid chess piece is currently on view at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where a selection of the Collection’s masterpieces from Islamic lands are on display in AlMuqtani (“Homage”), the section which recognises the outstanding contribution that individual collectors have made to the appreciation and understanding of Islamic visual and material culture.

During the early Islamic period, chess-pieces became increasingly abstract in shape and decoration. The use of luxury materials, such as rock crystal and ivory, reflect the popularity of chess amongst the elite members of Fatimid society. Rock crystal was an exotic import, largely from Madagascar, and was delicately worked by court craftsmen in Fatimid Cairo.

This large chess piece (AH 364–441/975–1050 CE) representing a king is carved from a single block of rock crystal. The game of chess originated in India under the Gupta dynasty and spread to Sasanian Iran and then to the Islamic world where Arabic treatises on chess are known since the 3rd century AH/9th century CE. The Arabic term for the game is shatranj, from the Middle Persian chatrang. This is, in turn, from the Sanskrit chaturanga (literally “in four parts”), describing the four components of an early Indian army: infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots.

The piece is currently on view at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where highlights from the Collection are on display in AlMuqtani (“Homage”), the section which recognises the outstanding contribution that individual collectors have made to the appreciation and understanding of Islamic visual and material culture.