Zimmermann Set: Romans versus Germans
Germany, Hanau, second half of the 19th century
King is 10 cm and Pawn is 7.8 cm high

The EG Zimmermann Company of Hanau near Frankfurt am Main became famous in the 19th century for its cast iron chess pieces. The Zimmermann metal sets were, at the time, more affordable than ones made in ivory or of precious metals, giving them a wider appeal.

Original Zimmermann figures typically bear the company's trademark on the underside of the Kings, with some, including this set, stamped on the Queens and Kings.

Throughout the 19th century, Zimmermann produced eight different sets of figures with historical themes and animal motifs. The "Roman (copper-colored) versus German (silver-colored)” set was said to have been designed for production earlier in the 19th century by the Seebafs Metalsmith Company in Offenbach am Main, also near Frankfurt; yet the concept of a cross-generational battle of economic ideologies between Romans and Germans played out on the chessboard is perhaps much older.

This set would be popularized with the name "Morphy-Set." The honor was given to the American international chess prodigy and champion Paul Morphy of New Orleans who had overtaken the Englishman Howard Staunton of London, a chess master and Shakespearean expert. Although a series of events curtailed a chess match between the two men, both in the US and England, they would admire the skills of one another; the house of Staunton, based on Jaques figures, would also design and manufacture a Morphy Set of their own. When he travelled to New York after his cross continental chess exploits, as a token of appreciation for his skill, Morphy was presented with a copy of the Zimmermann set in gold and silver.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, has an animal-theme metal Zimmermann chess set in its permanent collection, donated by GA Pfeiffer in 1948. Pfeiffer also donated a Romans versus Germans set to the Met, made in the second half of the 19th century. The Met set has somewhat more basic carvings and more color contrast than the Zimmermann one (most likely from Seebafs or another nearby manufacturer).

Provenance: From the celebrated Chess Set Collection of Astrid & Dr. Halvor Jaeger

Exhibited: Munich, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde,1988; Tirana, Albania, 1988

Curators: Ursula Siebert, Jean-Loup Rousselot(Munich); Jean-Loup Rousselot (Tirana)

Literature/Illustrated:
Schachspiele Wandel Im Laufe Der Kunst Und Kulturgeschichte (Chess: Art History and Culture), Staatliches Museum Fur Volkerkunde, 1988, page 70, plate 72.

Loja e shahut: Loje Kulturore -Loje Boterore; Schachspiel: Kulturspiel - Weltspiel (World and Culture of Chess), Staatliches Museum Fur Volkerkunde Munchen, 1989, illustrated page 20, text page 21.

Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde (founded 1862) is now the Museum Funf Kontinente (Five Continents Museum, Munich, Germany).

Select chess volume references for this set: Victor Keats, Chessmen for Collectors, 1985 (illustrated); Donald Liddell, Chessmen, 1976; Mackett-Beeson, Chessmen, 1973

Works from the Jaeger art collection have been exhibited at many museums and art spaces, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Baltimore Museum of Art, Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, Ontario College of Art and Design, UCLA's Fowler in Los Angeles, University of Cologne galleries, and the Museum Funf Kontinente in Munich.