06 February 2015

Bundi, Rajasthan, ca.1700

For this edition of Flickr Friday I had a good selection of chess images to choose from. See, for example, the photo set on Open Tradewise de Ajedrez de Gibraltar 2015, with some great shots of chess players both famous and not-so-famous. Since I had already featured the 2014 event a year ago in Gibraltar's Tradewise Chess, I chose another image.


Women Playing a Game of Chess © Flickr user Ashley Van Haeften under Creative Commons.

The title was further qualified with the identifier 'LACMA M.79.191.15', meaning 'Los Angeles County Museum of Art something, something, something', plus the description,

India, Rajasthan, Bundi, circa 1700
Drawings
Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
5 5/8 x 8 in. (14.29 x 20.32 cm)
Gift of Paul F. Walter (M.79.191.15)

where the last line mentions those 'somethings' again. What caught my attention here was the question, 'Are we sure these players are all women?' See, for example, File: Krishna welcomes Sudama, Bhagavata Purana, 17th century, India.jpg on Wikipedia, where the women all look similar. Whatever the truth with the LACMA piece, it's an attractive drawing either way.

No comments: