Makonde chess set

[1] Chess sets were first exported by Norman Kirk, a New Zealander who owned a lime and cashew nut plantation in Tanzania (then Tanganyika).

Kirk had been impressed by the work of the Makonde artist Likenikeni Sabini after visiting his workshop at Ndanda mission in the 1950s.

The queen, as representative of women (nkongwe[4]), carries a water pot on her head which is the custom in rural Africa.

The knight is in the style of a giraffe (twiga[4]); horses were unknown to the tribe as they cannot survive in this part of Africa because of the tsetse fly.

In some carvings the bishop appears as a witch doctor (native to 19th century east African culture).