Description
Anri “Limes” Series Chessmen in Presentation Case.
Offered here is a set of Anri “Limes” Chessmen in a Presentation Case. This set is more commonly known as the Romans and Teutons Chessmen. The King stands 4-1/2″ tall with a 1-1/4″ diameter base. The chess pieces are hand-painted and are nicely weighted. Each of the chess pieces rests atop royal blue felt base pads. The chess pieces are housed in a wooden presentation case with a removable upper tray. The” Limes” or Romans and Teutons chessmen are part of the Anri Toriart Collection, original Catalog #12601/Col. The “Col.” indicates a hand-painted set. The hand-painting is rather subtle. No chessboard is included with this offering, but a suitable board can be found here. In particular, this chessboard would have been used for these Toriart series sets.
The Anri Romans and Teutons Toriart chessmen were made in Italy, starting in 1958. The Kings and Queens bear stickers with the Anri “Toriart” trademark. The chessmen are in excellent condition, as is the compartmented wooden presentation case. Anri Romans and Teutons chess sets were produced between 1957 and 1974.
Some History.
The Teutons were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. Julius Caesar described them as a Germanic people, a term he applied to all northern peoples located east of the Rhine. The Teutons are best known for their involvement in the Cimbrian War with the Roman Empire in the late second century BC.
The Roman Republic fought against the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated into Roman-controlled territory and clashed with Rome and her allies in the Cimbrian War. The war was fought between 113-101 BC The Romans were initially defeated in several battles. However, the Romans finally defeated the Teutones and Ambrones as they attempted to advance through the Alps into Italy. The Roman general Gaius Marius led the legions and crushed the Ambrones at the river. Two days later, Marius led his army to confront the Teutones while secretly placing 3,000 Romans in a nearby woods. The Teutones were caught against the river and suffered a very heavy defeat. The Roman victory at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae was a turning point in the war and left the Germanic adversaries almost completely annihilated.
This information was taken from Wikipedia. More detail on this topic can be found here.
