SPECIAL COMMISSION: Legio de Crus (Legion of the Cross); Peter Ganine Hand-Painted/Sculptured Chess Set, Weighted, 1962.

Legio de Crus (Legion of the Cross); 32 plastiform sculptured chess pieces in the original box, weighted, hand-painted, aged bronze vs. burgundy with bronze highlights, antiqued, made in the U.S. (each piece carries the stamp ‘Peter Ganine 1962’ on their bases).

Height: King 11.7cm, wt 35g, base width (all pieces) 3.6cm or 1 1/2”; Queen 11cm wt 32g, Bishop 10.7cm 30g, Knight 9.8cm 40g, Rook 9.5cm 32g, Pawn 8cm 19g, base width 3cm.
W: Navy blue felt bases, B: Burgundy felt bases

As a child, I was fascinated by these ‘lifelike’ forms and still admire the intricate detailing as an artist today. Here, I have merely endeavoured to bring these fine details to the fore with various painting techniques and subtle sculptural tweaks here and there, as many of these details were lost on the plain black versus white originals.

The most prominent of these ‘tweaks’ is to the king’s lengthy beard which originally came to an abrupt halt in a pharaoh-like fashion. Instead, I have given His Majesty an unruly, full beard letting it flow almost down to the hilt of his gleaming broad-sword below. The bishop has also gained a raised centrepiece to his mitre, the queen some jewellery and more than a few noses have been broken along our journey adding even more character to these unique, figurative chess pieces.

Both kings carry the iridescent bronze 2021 hand-painted ‘Power’ signature of the artist on their bases and are UV resistant, therefore ideal for display as well as casual play.

All of our sets also come with a ‘Certificate of Artistry’ which will be posted on separately from the set once we have tallied up how many ‘Bronze Signature’ sets have passed through our galleries in 2021.
“All good things …” as they say.