“Fish Tooth” Chess Set

This 250-year-old chess set reflects political realities during the reign of the Empress Catherine the Great: the army of the Turkish sultan is ready to confront a European army, which, by the artist’s or his customer’s choice, is clad in the armor of the Byzantine Empire. The chessmen were carved by the Kholmogory masters out of “fish tooth”, the name of Morse ivory (walrus tusk) at the time. The craftsman is unknown but we can assume that it was the famous carver Osip Dudin (1714–1780). The quality of work of the Northern master was so high that the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, the future Paul I, was a returning customer. The masterful execution suggests that the chess set belonged either to the Grand Duke Paul or one of Catherine's noblemen.