Description
Notre Dame Cathedral Chess Pieces, Brass and Stainless.
Notre Dame CathedralOffered here is a very rare and unusual set of Notre Dame Cathedral Chess Pieces. The chessmen are fabricated from stamped brass and stainless-steel sheet. The King is 4.5″ tall with a 1.7″ square base and the pieces rest atop dark brown felt base pads. Each of the pieces has been dye-cut to resemble some design aspect of the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral. The chessmen are in excellent condition. The designer and date of manufacture is unknown. The glass chessboard shown is not included. A suitable chessboard can be found here.
Some History.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely completed by 1260, though it was modified in succeeding centuries. In the 1790s, during the French Revolution, Notre-Dame suffered extensive desecration; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In the 19th century, the coronation of Napoleon I and the funerals of many of the French Republic’s presidents took place at the cathedral.
The 1831 publication of Victor Hugo’s novel Notre-Dame de Paris (in English: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) inspired interest which led to restoration between 1844 and 1864, supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. On August 26, 1944, the Liberation of Paris from German occupation was celebrated in Notre-Dame with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the cathedral’s façade was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime. Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000.
The cathedral is a widely recognized symbol of the city of Paris and the French nation. In 1805, it was awarded honorary status as a minor basilica. As the cathedral of the archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the archbishop of Paris (Laurent Ulrich). More history on the Notre Dame Cathedral can be found here.
