By George Dean with Maxine Brady, 272pp, (Abrams Books, 2010)
Hardcover with jacket, 10 x 12, 200 full-color illustrations, introduction by Garry Kasparov
These remarkable chess sets span civilizations, chronicling the game and its design beginning with the earliest known pieces and coming up to the surprising present. Considering chess through the perspectives of art and history, the engaging text touches upon the influences of local cultures and available materials, as well as the battles, rulers, and political factions that often inspired thematic sets. In addition to classic sets produced by Wedgwood, Meissen, and Murano, Chess Masterpieces includes the first ever comparison of two sets created by Fabergé (only one of which was previously known to exist), and extensive examples of 20th- and 21st-century sets crafted by artists such as Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí, and Damien Hirst.
George Dean is a practicing physician with a passion for collecting art. He has amassed one of the greatest chess collections in the world, which forms the basis for this book. He divides his time between Michigan and Florida.
