Khatam & Hand-Painted Lacquer Chess Board — Polychrome Peacock & Floral Border, Board Only
A chess and backgammon board of exceptional painterly ambition, combining two of the most demanding decorative traditions of the artisan world in a single object of museum quality. The playing surface is framed by a wide border of hand-painted lacquer in vivid polychrome — peacocks in full display, exotic birds in flight, and dense floral compositions of peonies, chrysanthemums, and trailing leaves rendered in cobalt blue, coral, yellow, sage green, and ivory against a cream ground. The painting is executed with the precision and confidence of a master miniaturist, every feather, petal, and leaf individually described, the composition reading as a continuous panorama around all four sides of the board.
The playing field itself is set within a gold border and presents an alternating grid of near-black lacquer squares and squares of dense orange and black micro-mosaic — a surface of extraordinary visual richness that functions as a playing field and a decorative composition simultaneously. The sides of the board are clad in khatam micro-mosaic of exceptional fineness, thousands of individually cut pieces of wood and bone assembled into the repeating geometric star pattern that is the hallmark of the craft at its highest level.
A board of this quality is as much a collector's object as a playing surface — suited to a library, a study, or a display shelf where its painted border and micro-mosaic craftsmanship can be appreciated as the works of art they are.
Dimensions: Width: 49 cm Depth: 49 cm Height: 3 cm
Board only — chess pieces not included.
Each piece is unique and handmade to order.
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