Octigenti (The Eight); Soviet Drueke Influenced “Kremlin” Chess Set, c.1960s

The Eight (Octigenti); 32 vintage chess pieces without board, weighted, plastic, white vs. red, artistically reinvented, antiqued, c.1965
Height. King 8.3cm (3 1/4”), weight 22g, base width 3cm; Queen 7.5cm wt. 20g; Bishop 6.5cm 13g, Knight 6cm 15g, Rook 5.5cm 17g, Pawns 4.3cm 10g.
W: Lush Prussian blue felt pads; B: same

An unusual Soviet set depicting the various forms of architecture that we now know as The Kremlin. The octagonal bases are most likely ‘lifted’ from the popular American Drueke patterns of the 1940s/50s – the Soviets were by no means shy of dipping into the reservoir of Western chess sets…

The hollow plastic cavities have been filled entirely with a mixture of tungsten powder and filler with additional weight added to the bases. The pieces now feel solid and the ‘clacking’ sound of many plastic pieces has been eliminated.

My goal was to highlight the details of these pieces with various antiquing and aging techniques, which were somewhat lost on the originals. The colours red vs. white were chosen over the original white vs. black set-up to reflect the red vs. white armies of the Soviet army following the Revolution.

Both kings carry the hand-painted 2023 IRIDESCENT PEARL ‘Power’ signature of the artist on their bases and are accompanied by our unique ‘Certificate of Artistry’ which are posted out separately, once we tally up how many pearl signature sets passed through our galleries in 2023.

Etsy Set Price: $550.00

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