Parthenon Horse Head, Lewis Chessmen and Maoi

I stumbled on this horse head statue the other day while at the British Museum in London.  The statue was taken from the Parthenon in Greece.  Very impressive.  Just made me imagine how it might look as a chess piece.  Thought I'd share.

Also found these historic chess pieces at the British Museum.

Can you imagine this as a chess piece?

Very cool! Are those parts of the original Isle of Lewis set?

Are you sure?  I had no idea.  I just found the horse head very impressive.

 Yes they are.  I was at the British Museum in London.

Probably 5 cm for pawn and 10 cm for king.

Thanks for sharing Brian. It all looks pretty cool. Btw, HoS and SC both make a set with that knight.

Yes , Will come a time when all these stolen Artefact will go home to there's rightful place , After the break up of the UK

https://www.lukehoney.co.uk/blogs/inspiration/7839287-chess-and-the-elgin-marbles

House of Staunton used to offer a chess set with a knight based on the one at the British Museum. I can't remember the name of the set, but here is a photo :-

Re: the Parthenon Horse Head:

Here you go, from the Maestro himself: https://chessantiques.com/product/selene-imperial-staunton-chessmen/

The page includes some background, incl. a picture of the very same statue.

P.S. Must have been awesome to see the statue and St. Lewis set in real life!

I was not expecting to see the Lewis Chessmen, I didn't know there were any at The British Museum.  The horse head from the Elgin Marbles really moved me.  My first thought was Nathaniel Cooke's design (and I didn't know that others have drawn the same resemblence).  I'm still looking for an authoritative source that says this is indeed the inspiration (not just any Greek statue, but this particular statue).

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/01/06/italy-lends-parthenon-sculpture-to-greece-in-nudge-to-the-uk

Italy has announced it will lend a fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures back to its native Greece, in what both sides hope will become a permanent return that might encourage the UK to repatriate the Parthenon marbles removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/reproduction-and-real-jaques-of-london-chess-set?page=4

here seems to have been several slight differences of knight head design even in the first year of production. It is not known if these were deliberate changes or not, but it seems likely that it was a matter of difference in carving style and some slackness on the part of Jaques quality control. If one includes the ivory sets made also in the first year of production, there may well be as many as a dozen clearly different styles, allowing that the earliest knights heads were copies of the horses which drew Selene's chariot across the heavens and show a 'gasping mouth'.

"This is perhaps the most famous and best loved of all the sculptures of the Parthenon. It captures the very essence of the stress felt by a beast that has spent the night drawing the chariot of the Moon across the sky. As the unseen vehicle was shown sinking low in the west, the horse pins back its ears, the jaw gapes, the nostrils flare, the eyes bulge, veins stand out and the flesh seems spare and taut over the flat plate of the cheek bone".(British Museum).

Others are shown by Prof. Fersht to be of other horses from the same Greek frieze. However, oddly there are some early sets with a 'drop jaw' knight (two distinct varieties one with a long head and one short) which does not appear on the Parthenon frieze. Does this indicate that Jaques used sub-contract carvers from time to time?

This is from Alan Dewey .

Last weekend I was at the Louvre and saw this other greek horse head.  The ears look more curious and less fierce.  The nose less flared.  Mouth not as exhausted.  Comparable eyes.  I like the jaw line... also something I've seen in other pieces.

I still like to think the Nathaniel Cooke design is inspired by the Parthenon horse head even if he never explicitly said this.  I'm now curious to visit more Greek horse heads.

@castletohorsey I agree.  But I’ve never studied Greek horse statues.  I’m very curious now.