Spherical Bishops - A history ? ...

Hi All - I just mined this set from the net  for less than $100 shipped from Ukraine. It hasn't arrived so these are the only pics I have to go by. I was wondering if these spherical type Bishops have a specific origin to a region of the former USSR? The King is only around 3.5" so it isn't that large of a set. But the pads looked in excellent condition so I don't think it has received much play time. There's a similar set in the UK on e*ay now but it was a little much. Ideas on the bishops? Thanks -Ronbo 

love the knights in this set!

Thank You Sir . It was the Rooks, Knights and Bishops in that order which drew me to it. A definite case of less is more in the carving. 

Ron,

I don't have any specific information, but the bishops remind me of the onion-topped Russian Orthodox churches, and even more so of one type of miter worn by Russian Orthodox clergy.

Definitely. But almost as if rounded even more to lose the religious significance. Thanks -R

I doubt soviet-era sets would get away with overt references to religious iconography. I suspect the pronounced geometric shapes of most soviet-era sets derive much of their design philosophy from Russian Constructivism. 

Fascinating, Frank. Are you aware of anyone who has written on the subject?

While it could be argued that the Soviet era bishops might recall the onion topped Orthodox churches I, too, am very interested by the philosophy of Russian Constructivism. Where can I learn more about it?

FrankHelwig, just did some quick looks on the topic of Russian Constructivism online and find it fascinating. Instantly brings to mind some of the modern Obey images.

Hadn't thought of that, but yes, I can see what you mean.

I'm not really an expert on this and don't want to pretend I can speak knowledgeably about Russian Constructivism or any other related design school like Futurism for that matter. I just had a surface exposure to some of that and associated the use of bold shapes and geometric patterns with what I was seeing in many soviet sets. No idea if that resemblance is intentional or not.

They look like a lot of non-British pre-staunton Bishops to me.

Drawing the parrelles with the Russian architecture is maybe wrong since that kind of Bishop top is not limited to Russian sets.

Here's are some Germanic sphere tops:

http://www.chess-museum.com/uploads/4/8/4/6/484601/9205851_orig.jpg

http://www.chessantiquesonline.com/rochford_collection/secbig/WMF_1.jpg

The last one is post-staunton but it's not quite a Staunton set. The Bishops aren't mitred because they're "runners" or something in German-speaking regions. What word are they called in Russian? and do Russian Bishops even wear mitres? The second question was asked and answered already in this thread. 

I don't think you need to reinvent the wheel to think Soviet sets have some kind of unique Bishop design. Lots of Bishops outside of Great Britian looked like that long before the mitre design became the most popular.

Yes, in German a bishop is a "runner" and a knight is a "jumper", which I think makes a lot of sense...

In Russian, a bishop is an "elephant" (Слон)

And in French, it's a "fool" (fou)

Eastern sets, in general, remind me of that old-style Russian architecture exemplified by St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.  It's an appealing style, evocative of a bygone era.

As Frank indicates, the German bishop is a Laufer, the noun form of the verb laufen, which means to run. So there is no reason for any religious connotation to be drawn from the name of the piece. That never stopped the Germans from adopting Staunton conventions and producing many sets with mitered bishops, a practice the Nazis tried to stop with their Bundesform set for the '36 Olympiad, as others recently have chronicled here. That Laufer looks like a Mauser round.

The round tops on Germanic sets are an entire genre, and many of them are known as Onion-Top Sets because they evoke the onion-tops of Bavarian architecture, most notably on Bavarian churches. So the round top from southern Germany introduces a certain religious connotation despite the non-religious name.

That's what the bishops Ron posted reminded me of, and the similar architectural styles that Crappov mentions from pre-revolutionary Russia. I wasn't saying that that's what the designer had in mind, but what it reminded me of. That said, it's not unreasonable to think that the designer of Ron's set was either unconsciously evoking a religious metaphor, or covertly sneaking one past the cultural censors. Unless there's a definitive study somewhere, we'll never know, but certainly the hypothesis that the design reflects Russian Constructivism (itself apparently discredited by the time this set appeared) or some other form of modernism is just as reasonable if not more so.

Can't speak to the geometry of the bishops nor the origin, Chuck, but I love your photo of St. Basil's and the Russian Orthodox priestly vestments.

As an aside, here are a couple of photos of one of my favorites, the Dormition of the Holy Virgin Cathedral in Sergiev Posad, Russia just 26 miles from Moscow.  It was built between 1559 and 1585.

I don't see it. The only piece in the German sets that we know is supposed to look like a church tower is the rook. Ok, the Bishops have the same finial in the one I posted, just not on top of a tower, but so do lots of pieces. The finial there is pretty much a ball. Does that mean all pieces with such a shape are meant to look like onion top buildings including modern pawns and Queens as well as pre-staunton Bishops and even some Kings? 

Meanwhile Upcountyrain's Bishop finial is a different shape which might also look like an onion dome, but looks to me more like a simplified Staunton Bishop which we know is that shape for a different reason.

I guess the onion dome thing is possible but I don't think it's what's going on here. There are just too many chess pieces worldwide and too many other objects that have that shape.