Lot #1027. Portable Leather Chess and Checkers Game

Description Portable Leather Chess and Checkers Game Offered here is a portable leather roll-up chess and checkers game made from genuine leather, with a stitched checkered board in brown and beige tones. A zippered pocket is built-in for storage of the flat, reversible leather pieces (one side embossed with chess symbols for chess play, the other side plain for checkers). Two spare checkers are included. The pieces are red and black embossed leather. Two leather straps keep the cylinder in shape. The set measures 12-3/4″ long when rolled up. The overall design is compact for travel. The maker is likely an artisan or small-scale producer specializing in leather goods, similar to Gretchen Scott Designs, which handcrafts comparable sets in South Africa using premium suede for both the board and pieces. No specific brand markings are visible in the images, so it could be from a similar workshop or handmade without a label. Background. A similar type of Games Kit was produced by AJAX, and have often been dubbed the WW II British P.O.W. Chessmen, which incorporated an escape kit comprising 32 separate pieces of compressed cardboard, each with an applied painted image of a chess piece. A wartime substitute for men in the services. During WWII, Charles Fraser Smith of government Dept. CT6 and Christopher Clayton Hutton of MI9 were responsible for designing the many ingenious methods by which escape aids could be sent to British Prisoners of War. These were sent to P.O.W. Camps hidden in games and other items. Clayton Hutton explained that they “hid their escape aids in parcels containing’ games designed for the comfort and entertainment of the prisoners.” The name Ajax undoubtedly refers to ‘Ajax the Great’ from Homer’s ‘The Iliad’. The use of the name Ajax might also allude to the ‘Trojan Horse’ and the saying ‘beware Greeks bearing gifts’. On the label the phrase ‘Patent applied for’, and the large full stop, were a method of indicating to the recipient of the chessmen that there were concealed escape aids. This was one of the principal indicators employed in the many games. Some games also incorporated hidden maps, the location the map covered had a corresponding code such as ‘Emerald’, ‘Double Eagle’ or ‘Dutch Girl’. It is possible that the name ‘Dorothy’, indicates the inclusion of a hidden map, either within the tube itself, or within the accompanying chess board.