Medieval Vatican chess pieces

The Vatican musea in Rome are in my opinion a bit overrated as a place that you must see; it is rather overcrowded. One of the surprizing things that were on display were a few medieval chess pieces made from bone. These chess pieces were excavated from the catacombs of San Sebastiano at the Via Appia Antica. The catacombs were in use since the second century AD. The chess pieces were dated between 7th-10th century, which would make them one of the earliest European chess pieces known. However, comparing these chess pieces which similar archeological chess finds, make it more likely that they are from the 11th-12th century (see the comprehensive list by Goret et al., 2009). All pieces are made from bone with carved decorations. Some of the chess pieces were misnamed in my opinion.

The catacombs of San Sebastiano at the Via Appia.

From left to right: King, Queen, Queen, Rook and part of the Knight. 
In the background a part of an 16th century games box can be seen.

 From left to right: Rook, Knight, Elephant, Elephant and small Elephant

Left: King, measures 4.8 x 4.5 cm, inv. nr. MV_62179_0_0. Right: Rook, measures 3.8 x 4.6 cm, inv. nr. MV_62182_0_0. Images from Vactican musea online collection.

Left: Queen, measures 4.2 x 4.6 cm, inv. nr. MV_62180_0_0. Right: Queen (though the vatican says rook), measures 4.0 x 3.9 cm, inv. nr. MV_62181_0_0. Images from Vactican musea online collection.

Left: Knight, measures 4.5 x 3.4 cm, inv. nr. MV_62183_0_0. Right: Knight (though the vatican says pawn), measures 4.4 x 3.5 cm, inv. nr. MV_62184_0_0. Images from Vactican musea online collection.

Left: Elephant (bishop), measures 4.0 x 4.5 cm, inv. nr. MV_62185_0_0. Right: Elephant (though the vatican says pawn), measures 3.8 x 2.3 cm, inv. nr. MV_62186_0_0. Images from Vactican musea online collection.

Left: King or Pawn (the vatican says pawn), measures 2.6 x 2.3 cm, inv. nr. MV_62623_0_0. It is not clear if this is from the same site as the chess pieces shown above. Right: Bishop, chess piece of UK origin, made from ivory, end of 12th-start13th century, 9.5 x 5.9 x 3.6 cm. Images from Vactican musea online collection.

Left: small King or pawn. Right: King, Queen, Queen and Rook.

Left: Queen and Rook. Right: Knight and three Elephants.

 

From left to right: Queen, Rook, Knight, and Elephant (3x).

Also on display a 16th century games box from Germany or the Netherlands. The boards are fro backgammon, chess and nine-men-morris. The engraved edges show various characters, ideal and caricatured heads, and hunting scenes. Closed measures: 38.3 x 38.9 x 2.8 cm; open: 38.3 x 77.7 x 5.1 cm. Image from Vactican musea online collection.

Sources used:

• J-F. Goret, M. Talon and J-H. Ivinec, 2009. Le jeu d'echecs de Noyon dans sons contexte archeologique et historique. Revue Archeologique de Picardie 2009: 79-119.
• M. Grandet and J-F. Goret, 2012. Echecs et trictrac. Fabrication et usages des jeux de tables au moyen age. Exhibition catalogue Chateau de Mayenne, 23 June - 18 November 2012. Edition Errance, Paris, France. 160 pp. ISBN 978-2-87772-503-3.