| Description: | OOAK artisan chess set. Large, made of bovine leather, stunning, interesting, original, sophisticated.
Chess set made of two, contrasting brown and tan shades of leather in detailed design and great originality and charm. The bodies of the pieces are made from conic leather cups enforced with brass nails; Heads from leather pieces; Hair made from leather thongs and very elaborate faces with eyes, mouths, teeth, noses and ears represented by intricate cut-outs and embedment in the leather. Most also have little hands holding items of interest. There are many well-thought-out details in the design including: Horses harnesses made with buckled straps and nailed, tongues protruding from snouts; Kings (K ~6") and Queens wearing crowns, holding staffs and mirrors with teeth made from a thin layer of leather hanging in their mouths; Bishop wearing cravats and holding prayer books; "Personalized" brick style castled-like Rooks with eyes-like windows and mouse-like gates and a "nose"; Long-haired Pawns, armed soldiers, some holding axes and other s daggers. All made with great talent. One of a kind. Enormous amount of time and work went into it - this kind of effort is far too costly in terms of time and materials to be marketed.
Complimenting the set is a leather board, over 24" x 24" with 3" x 3" squares, with embedded design border and signed at the front "Rogers"(?). Several inscriptions on the back, possibly by different individuals. Excellent condition w/ some aging marks on the board where the pieces were positioned for display and play.
An appreciation gift for a close friend/family and dedication to a special person. Multiple messages on the back of the board as follows:
In French:
Tuesday 12 august 1997
Gifted to mister Karol Pila
With my eternal reconnaissance
My inexpressible gratitude
My absolute respect
My profound admiration
Yiddish blessing:
Bis Hindert Zwanzig Jahr
Mit Gesind und Mazel
[until 120 years with health and good luck]
Frank Gershen Jacques Pila
Editorial (further analysis in progress): Karol Pila was the one of the youngest children to survive the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. if this chess was gifted to him, this could explain the nature, depth and warmth of such blessing.
Reference Documentary - Event: "Karol Pila, the child of Auschwitz"
The Shoah Memorial entrusted RFI with the striking testimonies of Karol Pila, one of the youngest surviving children of Auschwitz, and his friends Henri Borlant and Simon Gutman: rare and unpublished words:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have come here to testify because it is time for me, at 80 years of age, to speak... I want to let go today, I want to let go to free myself from my wounds, so that I can be free from all the weight of suffering that I have had to undergo. You see me as an adult but know that it is a child who is going to speak.
I am a child of Birkenau. I was twelve years old. I did not want to die in Auschwitz.
Karol Pila: As a child, one could not survive in Auschwitz, just as the elderly, pregnant women or sick people, the Nazis selected on the arrival ramp of the wagon and sent these categories of Jews directly to the gas chambers. Only able-bodied adults were used for work, until they, in turn, were selected. At the age of 80, Karol gives a voice to the Jewish child he was. A little guy of 8, 10, 12 years old confronted on a daily basis with the Nazis.
Karol Pila s story is unique. He was one of the youngest surviving children of Auschwitz.
For the first time, La marche du monde offers to listen to Karol s testimony put into perspective with the words of two other deportees: Simon Gutman, who gave him food because he was in the camp kitchen, and Henri Borlant, one of the last survivors, today, among the Jews deported from France to Auschwitz.
The testimonies of Karol Pila, Simon Gutman and Henri Borlant are presented in the sound documentary "Karol Pila, the child of Auschwitz" in the presence of Jacques Fredj, director of the Shoah Memorial, on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity.
Additional References: https://www.multiplybysixmillion.com/bios/pila-karol.pdf |
