Lot #V022. American Civil War Ceramic Chessmen

Description

American Civil War Ceramic Chessmen

Offered here is a set of American Civil War Ceramic Chessmen, Heroes of the Civil War, crafted in Eastern Europe in the 1990s by the famous Belarusian artist Leonid Golovko in a limited number of 22 copies.

The respective Kings stand an impressive 5″ tall with 1-7/8″ bases. The chessmen are cushioned atop green baize base pads, possibly added later. Each piece stands on a gold-rim plinth displaying the name of the person depicted. The maker’s mark is cast into each pedestal. These superb miniature porcelain characters represent some of the famous leaders and generals who served both the Union and Confederate armies during the American Civil War. On display the ethnographic museum in Petersburg, Russia, is this set, which is arguably the finest Civil War set in existence. Crafted by aneastern European artist, it consists busts of the leading figures of the Civil War. The accuracy and detail in the facial features are simply astonishing! These superb portraits are in formal military uniforms, blue against light gray.  On the blue Union side, Abraham Lincoln is the king, and Ulysses S Grant serves as the Queen. On the grey Confederate side, Jefferson Davis, president of the confederacy, is the king, and Robert E Lee general of the army of northern Virginia, does duty as the queen. The bishops and pawns in both armies represent Generals serving on both sides during the Civil War. The chess pieces are in as new condition. No chessboard is included, but a suitable board can be found here. The chess pieces date to the 1990s.

The Union army consists of the following characters.

The King: Abraham Lincoln

• The Queen: Hiram Ulysses S. Grant (The “S.” doesn’t stand for anything, but he was later nicknamed “Sam” because of his initials U.S. as in “Uncle Sam”)
• The Bishops: Benjamin Franklin Butler and William Tecumseh Sherman
• The Knights: Battle Steeds bearing a plaque showing the words: “Civil War”.
• The Rooks: Greek Ionic Columns with a plaque bearing the word “North”.
• The Pawns; John Pope; Fitz John Porter; Philip Henry Sheridan; George Gordon Meade; Ambrose Everette Burnside; Irvin McDowell; George Brinton McClellan; Henry Wager Halleck

The Confederate army consists of the following characters

• The King: Jefferson Columbus Davis
• The Queen: Robert Edward Lee
• The Bishops: Pierre Gustave Beauregard and John Clifford Pemberton
• The Knights: Battle Steeds bearing a plaque showing the words: “Civil War”.
• The Rooks: Greek Ionic Columns with a plaque bearing the word “South”.
• The Pawns: Ambrose Powell Hill, Jr.; Albert Sidney Johnston; John Bell Hood; Charles Ferguson Smith; Braxton Bragg; Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson; Richard Stoddert Ewell; Jubal Anderson Early

Background

By 1960, America had grown to 31 states, with 31 million people, but there were major disagreements threatening the nation. The northern states were industrialized, pro-tariff and anti-slavery. The southern states were agrarian, anti-tariff, and pro-slavery. Abraham Lincoln was elected president that year on a platform that threatened the institution of slavery. In protest, 11 southern states seceded from the nation to form a new country called the Confederate States of America. Increasing tensions escalated to a Civil War that lasted four years, with fighting up and down the Mississippi river and the northern as well as southern states 650,000 American soldiers died, more than all other wars fought by the United States combined. It didn’t end until Union general Ulysses S. Grant excepted the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that Appomattox courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. Five days later, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes booth at the Ford theater in Washington.