Chess Set

c. 1850
Asia: India, Delhi
Ivory pieces, wood board inlaid with ivory
The Norton Simon Foundation, Gift of Mr. Norton Simon

The game of chess was invented many centuries ago in India, where it was conceived as a game of war and modeled after the confrontation of armies on a battlefield. The four components of an Indian army are the infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephant brigade. The two opposing sides of this set are depicted as a Sikh army, whose soldiers have beards in addition to moustaches, and an Afghan army. During the Middle Ages, chess was introduced to Europe, where it was transformed into a game of courtly intrigue. The prime minister was replaced by the queen, the elephant brigade by the bishop, the cavalry by the knight, and the chariot or camel brigade by the rook. In Indian chess, the camel is often substituted for the bishop and the elephant for the rook. This particular chess set, known as a “John Company” set, was crafted in New Delhi around 1850 for the British East India Company.

Norton Simon Turns to Indian Art

This chess set is the very first work of art from South Asia that Norton Simon acquired for his collection. In 1971, Simon and his wife, Jennifer Jones Simon, decided to extend their honeymoon and travel to India. There, recognizing the beauty of the works of art around him, Simon called former LACMA curator Pratapaditya Pal for advice about where to go and what to see. Pal encouraged the couple to visit the National Museum in New Delhi, a recommendation that would change the course of Simon’s collecting. He was so impressed with the sculptures’ delicate carvings and complex iconographies that he purchased two works of art on that first trip. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Simon showed the acquisitions to Pal, who felt that only one of them was worthy of his collection: the chess set. “One out of two. That’s not bad,” said the amused collector. This anecdote and more can be found in the publications Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best (2010) and Odd Man In: Norton Simon and the Pursuit of Culture (1998, 2019).