Chess pieces

These 12th-century chess pieces reflect the intellectual culture of medieval Central Asia.
Chess reached the region from India through Iran and became firmly established in the Islamic world. During the Ghaznavid and Karakhanid periods, chess was associated with strategic thinking, governance, and scholarly refinement.
The pieces are made of ganch, a gypsum-based material widely used in architectural decoration. Their forms are stylized and symbolic rather than naturalistic, in accordance with Islamic artistic conventions. Circular and banded ornaments distinguish the ranks of the pieces.
Although small in size, these objects represent a vibrant urban culture in which scholarship, science, and intellectual games flourished.