A rare ivory elephant-form chess piece, Persia or Central Asia, 9th-10th century

Zoomorphic chess pieces from the early Islamic period are exceedingly rare. A few related examples are published by Kühnel (Kühnel, E., Die Islamischen Elfenbeinskulpturen, Berlin, 1971, Plate VI, nos. 12, 14 and 15) from the Bargello in Florence, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, and ex-collection Georges Demotte, New York.

Of these, the piece in Berlin has the elephant partially squatting (as seen here) and the howdah still retains the figure (missing in the present example). Kühnel dates the Berlin piece to c.8th century and "Islamischer Orient". But the closest comparison is to the piece formerly in collection Georges Demotte (ibid., VI, 12). In composition and engraved detail this is so close it could almost be carved by the same hand.  Again the howdah retains its rider and gives us an idea of the missing elements. A date of "9th century (?)" and "Iraq (?)" is posited by Kühnel.

Since Kühnel published his study, our knowledge has expanded with archaeological finds, notably two ivory chess pieces found in the Afrasiyab region dateable to the pre-Ghaznavid period which vindicates Kühnel's attribution to "Islamischer Orient", and supports a dating of circa 9th-10th century.