Creative Commons License
Mirror Cover with a Couple Playing Chess
(Medieval Europe )
This ivory mirror back shows a couple playing chess, a game symbolic of a young man's battle to win his lady's heart. The scene is surrounded by a ten-lobed frame adorned with masks and four crouched dragons fill the four corners.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Freiherr von Wambolt, Aschaffenburg, 1847; Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck, Munich; Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck Sale, Munich, June 6-7, 1904, no. 308; Léon Gruel, Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2010 | Checkmate! Medieval People at Play. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1995-1996 | Medieval Games of Love and War. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Germany (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Overall: H: 3 7/8 × W: 4 1/8 × D: 5/8 in. (9.84 × 10.48 × 1.59 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1925
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.268