A HIGHLY RARE CARVED ROCK CRYSTAL CHESS PIECE, FATIMID 12TH CENTURY OR EARLIER Of domed cylindrical form, carved with deep bevel-cut ribs and incised dash details, flattened bottom, 3.7x3cm, 45 gram The game of chess, which can be traced back through archaeological evidence to the second or third century, spread from the Indian subcontinent through Persia to centres such as Baghdad and Cairo, from where the present chess piece most probably originates. The feat of carving rock crystal, an extremely hard element, was mastered by the Fatimids in the 10th century as evident from the magnificent, but limited, corpus of remaining works, including ewers, flasks and chess pieces. It was the abundant wealth of the Fatimid Caliphs that permitted them to commission works of such refinement as the present chess piece. height: 4cm diameter: 3cm