Title
Australia -v- England chess set
1976-1978
reworked 1981
reworked 1985
reworked 2008
Artist
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Details
- Dates
- 1976-1978
reworked 1981
reworked 1985
reworked 2008 - Media category
- Sculpture
- Materials used
- carved wood table with 34 wooden chess pieces, synthetic polymer paint on carved Oregon wood
- Dimensions
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93.0 x 101.7 x 101.5 cm overall dimensions
:
a - Luna Park chess table, 54.8 x 101.7 x 101.5 cm
b - Luna Park chess table: Drawer A, 10.5 x 65.7 x 44 cm
c - Luna Park chess table: Drawer B, 10.9 x 65.7 x 43.8 cm
d - AUSTRALIA - ROOK 1: Lamington (1), 7.8 x 7.8 x 7.6 cm
e - AUSTRALIA KNIGHT: Slim Dusty, 20.5 x 8 x 5.9 cm
f - AUSTRALIA - BISHOP: Joan Sutherland, 22.7 x 11.4 x 6.4 cm
g - AUSTRALIA - QUEEN: Dame Edna Everage, 30 x 5.5 x 6.4 cm
h - AUSTRALIA - QUEEN: Kim [from Kath and Kim], 24 x 6.3 x 5.6 cm
i - AUSTRALIA - KING: Norman Gunston, 25.4 x 7.5 x 5.5 cm
j - AUSTRALIA - BISHOP: David Gulpilil, 22.6 x 7.8 x 5.6 cm
k - AUSTRALIA - KNIGHT: Ned Kelly, 7.6 x 7.7 x 5.6 cm
l - AUSTRALIA - ROOK: Lamington [2], 7.8 x 7.6 x 8 cm
m - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Minnie Peters [Ginger Megg's girlfriend], 10.5 x 7.7 x 5.5 cm
n - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Blinky Bill, 10.2 x 8.1 x 5.6 cm
o - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Nutsy [from Blinky Bill], 10.3 x 7.8 x 5.7 cm
p - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Ginger Meggs, 9.9 x 7.8 x 5.6 cm
q - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Walter Wombat [from Blinky Bill], 11.1 x 7.9 x 5.6 cm
r - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Splodge [from Blinky Bill], 11.5 x 7.6 x 6 cm
s - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, 10.2 x 8.1 x 5.6 cm
t - AUSTRALIA - PAWN: Mrs Magpie [from Blinky Bill], 10.3 x 7.8 x 5.6 cm
u - ENGLAND - ROOKE: Castle [1], 12.5 x 10.2 x 5.7 cm
v - ENGLAND - KNIGHT: Prince Andrew, 20.1 x 9.8 x 6 cm
w - ENGLAND - BISHOP: Princess Diana and Prince Charles, 13.8 x 10.4 x 5.8 cm
x - ENGLAND - QUEEN: Queen Elizabeth II, 16.1 x 13 x 5.6 cm
y - ENGLAND - KING: Prince Philip, 17.3 x 9.5 x 5.7 cm
z - ENGLAND -BISHOP: Camilla Parker Bowles, 15.6 x 8.7 x 5.9 cm
aa - ENGLAND -BISHOP: Queen mother, 12.5 x 7 x 5.8 cm
bb - ENGLAND - KNIGHT: Princess Anne, 20.3 x 8.2 x 5.9 cm
cc - ENGLAND - ROOK: Castle [2], 12.5 x 10.2 x 5.6 cm
dd - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [1], 11 x 7.8 x 5.5 cm
ee - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [2], 11.5 x 7.8 x 5.7 cm
ff - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [3], 11 x 7.9 x 5.5 cm
gg - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [4], 11.1 x 7.8 x 5.6 cm
hh - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [5], 10.9 x 8 x 5.7 cm
ii - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [6], 11 x 7.6 x 5.7 cm
jj - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [7], 11.1 x 7.7 x 5.8 cm
kk - ENGLAND - PAWN: Corgi [8], 11 x 7.4 x 5.7 cm
ll - Perspex lid, 39.8 x 83.2 x 83.2 cm
mm - Drawer A: cover, 61.1 x 36 x 0.6 cm, Located inside Drawer [part b]
nn - Drawer B: cover, 61.4 x 36.1 x 0.6 cm, Located inside Drawer [part c]
- Signature & date
Signed and dated right side of base, black synthetic polymer paint "Peter Kingston 30 9 78".
Signed and dated c. verso on part h, black fibre-tipped pen "'08/ Peter/ Kingston".- Credit
- Gift of the artist 2007
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 357.2007.a-nn
- Copyright
- © Estate of Peter Kingston
- Artist information
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Peter Kingston
Works in the collection
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About
"The chess set evolved from conversations with friends ... all the pieces are popular characters I admire. I didn't set out to make a joke of the Royal Family, but they are ideal humorous figures".
Peter Kingston, 1981Created between 1976 and 1978, then revised and updated in 1981 to commemorate the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, 'England -v- Australia chess set' features a menagerie of characters representing the Colonial and the colonized. Cuddlepie and the corgi, the Queen Mother and the Opera Diva Dame Joan, each figure is carved meticulously from Oregon and lovingly hand painted in enamel.
The pieces cavort across a table flanked on four sides by the laughing, benevolent face which graces Sydney's Luna Park.
Throughout the ensuing decades, Kingston has continued to produce chess sets, creating 'New York chess set' and 'Art lovers chess set' in the 1980s, and more recently, in a tribute to his beloved funfair, he produced 'Luna Park chess set' in 1995.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 4 exhibitions
Peter Kingston (1978), Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, 30 Sep 1978 -
Peter Kingston (1993), Australian Galleries, Sydney, Paddington, 24 May 1993–19 Jun 1993
Peter Kingston: a survey, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, 03 Dec 2004–16 Jan 2005
Peter Kingston: a survey, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, 25 Mar 2005–08 May 2005
Australian Collection Focus: Notes from the River Caves: Peter Kingston & Martin Sharp, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Sep 2006–19 Nov 2006
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Bibliography
Referenced in 4 publications
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Jill Bowen, The Australian women's weekly, 'Anyone for chess with Corgi and Bess?', pg. 46-47, Sydney, 07 Jun 1978, 46-47 (colour illus.).
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Kate Crawford, The Mosman daily: incorporating North Sydney, 'Spotlight on Kingston art', pg. 27, Parramatta, 02 Dec 2004, 27.
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Gavin Wilson, Harbourlights: the art and times of Peter Kingston, Victoria, 2004, (colour illus.).
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Natalie Wilson., Notes from the river caves: Peter Kingston and Martin Sharp, 'Notes from the River Caves: Peter Kingston and Martin Sharp', Sydney, 2006, (colour illus.). Website catalogue for the 'Notes from the River Caves: Peter Kingston and Martin Sharp' exhibition held at the AGNSW in 2006.
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