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$ 895.00

Special --->> $ 495.00

The board measures slightly over 21" square and is constructed of dark chocolate brown Peruvian Walnut and White Oak.  The playing squares are 2" and the total height is 3".  The feet are made of African Zebrawood, which picks up both colors in the board.  After seeing Amy's pieces, I knew a conventional "flat" board would not work and I wanted a design that would capture part of her "Folk Art" design.  The pinwheel border, alternating the walnut and oak, adds a distinctive look to this set.  A similar one of a kind wood/pottery set recently sold at auction for over $ 1,000.00

Folk Artist and Potter, Amy Peraldo created the  pieces which are based upon life on the farm.  They measure from just over 2"  to 4" tall.  Each piece is individually hard-formed and show an extraordinary amount of detail.  From the farmer King and is wife the Queen, to the horse head (knight), pig (bishop), outhouse (rook) to the chickens (pawns), each one has it's own unique look and personality.  Each piece is felted on it's bottom.  

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Here's a quick story about how this set came about.

I love pottery and for years I have wanted to collaborate with a potter on a chess set.  Over the years, I have mentioned this to various qualified potters, but knowing the shear amount of work that goes into hand-forming 36 individual pieces, I didn't expect many takers.  I figured the right person would come along eventually.

Amy Peraldo and I were exhibiting at the Atalaya show; she was inside the castle, and I was outside her window on the lawn.  We talked back and forth about how we could create a special set.  We talked about board design and colors, sizes, pottery color combinations, etc.   I told her I did not have any specific design requirements, other than size, and that I wanted the pieces to be the design of the potter.  It's important that Artists maintain control of their creativity when working on any kind of collaboration.  She said she would work on a set.  I was convinced that when she thought carefully about the amount of work involved, she would change her mind.

A few weeks later, at another show, Amy pulls out 2 sets of these chess pieces!  The blue set you see above, and another green set.  As soon as I saw them, I knew any previous thoughts I had about a board design would not work.  I knew I had to start over and try to create one that captured her Folk Art theme.  After a couple of days of mock-ups and head-scratching, I came up with the design you see above.  The board and pieces look great together.  Some of the facial expressions, especially the chicken/pawns  (hmmmm..do chickens have faces?) are priceless.