The history of the game of chess is a fascinating story that begins around 600 AD. For centuries, scholars and historians have debated whether variations of the game were first played in India, Persia or China. Most authorities feel the closest ancestor to chess was an Indian game called “Chaturanga” which means the four divisions of the Indian army. It was a four handed game of war with the board as the battlefield. The pieces were figural chessmen, depicting the Indian army of elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers that protected the raja. There was no queen in these games. Her position was filled by the vizier, the minister to the ruler.

As the game of chess spread throughout the ancient world, the rules and shape of chess pieces changed. It was played in Persia in the 7th century and spread throughout the Arab world by the 10th century. Although the teachings of Islam only discouraged the representation of human figures in art, makers of Arabic chess sets chose to make symbolic, almost abstract chess pieces. The Islamic pieces were conventional and simplified and easy to use. It is believed that chess reached Europe through Spain after the peninsula was conquered by the Moors in 711 AD or through the northern trade routes. By the 10th century, chess was played all over Europe and the pieces again became figural, often representing medieval armies. The queen, for the first time, became the companion to the king, replacing the Indian and Arabic vizier. It would not be until the 15th century that the rules of chess were again revised and the queen was given her power to move around the board.

The first chess pieces were carved from ivory, bone, and wood. Later examples were made of ceramic, porcelain, gold, silver, bronze, pewter and glass. The earliest glass chess pieces were made during the Islamic Empire around the 9th century. Several small abstract examples exist in museums and private collections. One tiny piece, in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, was made from a dark opaque glass with red and green trailed decoration. Its simple design is in keeping with traditions of the Islamic religion.

The shape of chess pieces were figural in Europe and were made for centuries out of many materials other than glass. Elaborate representational sets made for presentation, not play, were popular during the 17th century. These ornate sets, often depicting scenes from literature and history, were status symbols of the wealthy. By the 19th century, fragile decorative glass chess pieces were created in Italy on the Venetian island of Murano. There seems to be little evidence of glass chess pieces being made in Europe before the 19th century. Due to the fragility of delicate glass chessmen, the sets were most likely never used. Glass chess sets continued to be made into the 20th century by glass companies and glass artists on the island of Murano and in Venice, Italy. The sets ranged from highly figural to abstract.

Probably the most recognized design of all chess sets is called the Staunton set. The Staunton set design was actually created and patented by chess makers John Jaques and his brother-in-law Nathaniel Cook in England in 1849. Howard Staunton was the English chess champion who won the equivalent to the world title match in Paris in 1843. Cook convinced Staunton to endorse the design. Staunton agreed, and the use of his name is believed to be the first commercial product endorsement. The shape, weight and all over feel of the Staunton set was so well received that it was selected in 1924 by the World Chess Federation for use in all international chess tournaments. The Staunton design was originally made from wood, but at least one factory in Italy made glass Staunton sets.

Other important glass companies made chess sets during the 20th century. The famous Waterford Crystal of Ireland made glass sets incorporating their elaborate cutting to differentiate between opposing sides. The Cristalleries de Saint Louis of France created clean angular chess pieces with sharp cut points on the crowns of the king and queen, distinguishing the opposing sides by frosting. Glass companies in Czechoslovakia and Austria also manufactured chess sets.

Some non-glass companies marketed their products in glass chess pieces. The most logical was the perfume maker, Mary Chess. Capitalizing on her name, she sold a variety of scents in chess pieces which, when collected, comprised a complete chess set. The Wheaton Glass Company of Millville, New Jersey produced the glass bottles and pressed figural stoppers for Mary Chess from 1946 to 1948. In the 1970s, Avon Products, Inc. sold several of their men’s colognes in a select group of opposing chess pieces. Plastic figural tops covered the lids of the simple bottles, creating the chess characters. Wheaton Glass Company also made glass bottles for the Avon chess pieces. The Italian distillery Mazzetti d’Altavilla in Altavilla, Monferrato, developed chess pieces as promotional items. To distinguish between the opposite sides, the decorative bottles were filled with two different Grappa flavors.

“Put togethers” is an unusual category of chess set collecting. For centuries, people who could not afford commercially made chess sets made up their own. Any type of material could be used from stones to sea shells. Glass “put togethers” have been made from salt and pepper shakers and perfume bottles. Although they appear a little curious, chess sets have also been created by putting together appropriately sized miniature liquor bottles. In the movie “Our Man in Havana,” produced in 1960, Alec Guinness played with a put together set of miniature liquor bottles. Another unusual glass chess set that looks like glass picks in sand was made by glass artist Dumitru Costea. His design was actually based on a type of chess set called the Dieppe set. Dieppe is a town in France where an ivory carving industry thrived during the 18th century. Chess sets of intricately carved ivory were a product of Dieppe, usually depicting French characters. Spike sets were made from the left-over ivory and were played in the sand.

There was an explosion of glass artists making chess sets during the late 20th century. Continuing the unusual subject matters for chessmen that became popular in the 17th century, today’s artists are only restricted by the limits of their imagination. Artist Milon Townsend has created sets ranging from fanciful insects to the dazzling New York skyline. Gianni Toso’s remarkable talent can been seen in his religious and Pulcinello sets. Tom Patti’s background of industrial design and understanding of the beauty of minimalism is reflected in the Jaeger set. Chess has also been used as a motif in glass. Large individual chess pieces have been made in Murano, Italy and at the Steuben Glass Works of Corning, New York. Artists such as Milon Townsend, Wendy Saxon-Brown and Maurice Heaton have used the theme of players contemplating their next move in their work.

Although glass was never a common medium for chess sets, its use for chessmen dates back for centuries. It would not be until the 20th century that glass artists designed fragile, imaginative glass chess sets, for show, not play.