{"product_id":"surprise-c-late-19th-early-20th-century-memo-book-turned-stitched-and-inked-pocket-chess-board-with-celluloid-pieces-1","title":"Surprise! c. Late 19th\/Early 20th Century Memo Book Turned Stitched and Inked Pocket Chess Board with Celluloid Pieces","description":"\u003cp\u003eI'd never seen a little pocket chess board like this, and turns out they are quite precious  little things, with ones of this sort seeming to have been produced between the later 19th century and WWII, especially in England. The exterior here is embossed \"Memorandum\" in gold lettering and it looks possibly to be a homemade version--with the grid of squares stitched to create pockets for the pieces, the black squares looking as though hand-inked, and the brass clasp, which holds the board snugly closed, bordered with what I think of as trench art style engraving. The pieces themselves I believe are celluloid, and I've found similar examples out there--so at least those for sure were commercially produced. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eOf course I forever associate chess with Duchamp, and feel quite sure he would have appreciated the guise of this pocket sized, make-do feeling board passing as a memo book, as well as the ease of being able to pull it out even while out in the trenches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eOpen 5 1\/8\" x 4 5\/8\". Closed 4 9\/16\" x 2 3\/4\". There is one red pawn missing, and two of the other red pawns looks to be more simply cut substitutes; easy to cut a bit of red paper or something to make one more. General wear to the cover, all of a piece with it; clasp closes easily and holds very tight. There is what appears to be a hand inked name at lower right, I presume of its original owner. Late 19th\/early 20th c. I believe. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"critical EYE Finds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48866900181246,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0015\/5022\/1382\/files\/IMG_4928_265d1d8e-1b16-48a7-87fe-b273b6009270.jpg?v=1788208596","url":"https:\/\/www.criticaleyefinds.com\/products\/surprise-c-late-19th-early-20th-century-memo-book-turned-stitched-and-inked-pocket-chess-board-with-celluloid-pieces-1","provider":"critical EYE Finds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}