The Cthulhu Chess Set
Monday, May 11, 2009
This thread from Thomas Ligotti Online showcases a remarkable piece of Lovecraftian ephemera that once made the rounds on E-bay. Here, we have a hand carved chess set with Lovecraftian horrors replacing the usual geometric, vaguely Medieval game pieces. Cthulhu, Dagon, and a number of other blasphemous terrors can be arrayed to do battle on a chessboard that may as well symbolize the Cosmos. Deep Ones fulfill the role of pawns in this set, while a few less identifiable entities make up the middle ranks.
According to the poster, this handsome set was sold to an eldritch connoisseur for several hundred dollars. There may also be no more than two in existence--a fact that makes this chess set exceedingly rare and very prone to totally vanishing should misfortune befall both sets. Perhaps, however, some other artists will take it upon themselves to create other sets resembling this one. Given all the other Lovecraft themed concoctions exhibited online, there's certainly a demand somewhere out there for more Lovecraftian chess pieces.
-Grim Blogger