Man Ray Chess Set

Every now and then The Wall Street Journal features a chess set.  Maybe I've featured this particular "set" before, or maybe not.  It's beautiful, either way.

TECHNOLOGY

September 14, 2012, 5:52 p.m. ET

The Board Game Upgrade Your Chess Set

Man Ray designed this chess set in 1920 using found objects from his studio. Most of the pieces are geometric models made for still-life drawing (the king is a pyramid, the queen a cone, the rook a cube, the pawn a sphere). The knight—the finial of a violin—was fashioned from a box of abandoned violin necks.

Only a handful were ever produced (the maharajah of Indore commissioned a set made from silver-plated brass). This re-edition is rendered in wood, as Man Ray originally intended, and is based on a set housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

To play with this set is to create a slow moving, sculptural tableau. You'll want to take your time pondering your next move. $210, ameico.com