Busacca Gallery

Consignment / This order takes between four and six weeks to receive / Chessmen Made By Naef Art - Bauhaus Chess Pieces Maneuver:
This game of chess with clean lines is characteristic of the timeless Bauhaus style. Josef Hartwig’s chessmen, designed in 1923, have reduced forms which, in contrast to commonly used figures, are symbols based purely on the function and form of the maneuver of each piece. Cubes, cylinders and balls will lead you move by move to checkmate. If you have ever failed to remember a chess piece’s playing direction, then this is the chessboard for you. Designed by Bauhaus sculptor Josef Hartwig in 1923, the set’s pieces are formed to represent their particular function. This was accomplished by reducing the traditional shapes of the pieces into simple shapes, such as circles, crosses, and squares. Multiple versions of this chessboard were made under the same Bauhaus influence, which requires that designs be practical, durable, inexpensive and beautiful. Josef achieved just that and the beautiful wood set is just further proof of the Bauhaus’s dogmatic belief that form follows function. Versions of the board are still created and sold today. Chess builds up your prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that CEOs, politicians and military leaders use to plot their world domination. So put down the plans for that hostile takeover and schedule some time with the Naef Bauhaus Wooden Chess Set. Made in Switzerland, this striking set is reproduced with the highest precision and quality according to the original Bauhaus designs. The clean and modern lines are sure to have a commanding presence in that corner (or oval!) office. Chessmen only. Board sold separately. Product information:
32 chess pieces in a Box (44 x 7,5 x 4,5 cm)

Design:
Josef Hartwig

Article number:
Art.-No. 9650.
 Josef Hartwig, between 1921-1925 Josef Hartwig completed an apprenticeship as a stonemason from 1893 to 1897. As early as 1897, when he was just 17 years old, he worked on the interior design of the well-known Elvira photo studio in Munich, which was designed by August Endell. He studied under Balthasar Schmidt and others at the Munich academy from 1904 to 1908. From 1914, he worked as a stonemason in Berlin (gravestones). As a master of works in the stone and wood sculpture workshop, he worked at the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar from 1921 to 1925. During this time, he collaborated with Oskar Schlemmer on the interior design of the Bauhaus Building and designed the Bauhaus Chess Set in 1923. Other works from this era include the sculpture "Eule" (Owl) of 1922. After the Bauhaus closed in Weimar, Hartwig went on to the school of art in Frankfurt and taught sculpture there until 1945. During the National Socialist era in Germany he was a member of the NSDAP. He worked as a master in the restoration workshop of the Städtische Skulpturengalerie (municipal sculpture gallery) in Frankfurt am Main until his death in 1956. *Naef Toys: The individual parts allow you to create again and again something new. The company has the highest level of excellence and quality. Naef wooden toys; or as we like to refer to them as “Objects or Art” to our avid followers.  We plan to maintain our unprecedented reputation for quality and customer service in order to maintain the Naef name and tradition well into the future. Every Naef item is sold with the full intent of bringing enjoyment to the customer.  Our product’s specifically selected woods and superior Swiss craftsmanship allow for them to last beyond a single generation.  Naef is more than just a toy; it is the piece of family history that will be passed down from generation to generation. *All of the art is edited and chosen by us for its high quality and workmanship before posting. These collectibles have been selected with the artist & collector in mind. We are committed to enhancing our customer’s lives by discovering creating, and pointing out only the best art we can find in the world today. We Are Taste-Makers, Art Advisers, Consultants & Publishers Of Spectacular Art Stories. Our job is to be intermediaries between buyers and sellers. We are vetting for high end art patrons. We are determined to catalog the world's most exceptional art and share it with everyone.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy

Designer toys are toys and other collectibles produced in limited editions (as few as 10 or as many as 2000 pieces) and created by artists and designers.



Most young humans have been said to play with whatever they can find, such as pine cones and rocks. Toys and games have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations. They have been written about in some of our oldest literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization (3000-1500 BCE) include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which could slide down a string.



The earliest toys were made from materials found in nature, such as rocks, sticks, and clay. Thousands of years ago, Egyptian children played with dolls that had wigs and movable limbs which were made from stone, pottery, and wood. In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or terracotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. When Greek children, especially girls, came of age it was customary for them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods. On the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into adulthood.

As technology changed and civilization progressed, toys also changed. Where as ancient toys were made from materials found in nature like stone, wood, and grass, modern toys are often made from plastic, cloth, and synthetic materials, often powered by batteries. Ancient toys were often made by the parents and family of the children who used them, or by the children themselves. Modern toys, in contrast, are often mass-produced and sold in stores.



The materials that toys are made from have changed, what toys can do has changed, but the fact that children play with toys has not changed.