re: chesspy vz. lichess
Dear brethren, I have some interest in this subject - on account of the first major repro set issued, the Lewis chess set copies. I understand the discovery of the Lewis set in its time created such enormous interest in these pieces that large quantities of reproductions in the most various materials were fashioned to sate the hunger of the public for their own Lewis set! andthis interest continues - even the House of Jaques in London has been selling Lewis repros! Considering the difficulty of visiting the British Museum - or the Scottish National Museum now - these copies have been of enormous benefit for a lot fo people, and some of the repros are even very appealing for workmanship and/or material.
This Gaudi emanation set discussed has not made a singular historic piece available to the many - it is a high price luxury adornment in very expensive material - of dubious taste (the board) - to cash in on a neorich socialite section of society - that is if it sells. A perfect waste of good mammoth tooth. From an artistic point of view, it wd not make any difference if it was fashioned in ceramics, sea tang or painted horse manure. This set has no pedigree, no inherent reason to be except to gratify the tired eyes of those who've got almost everything - it is a high end version of souvenir trash, and does nothing to bring Gaudi closer to the public, on the contrary.
Generally speaking, a repro is what it says - a reenactment of something created before. It may be useful if the original is gone or unavailable, but it will always
lack the je ne sais quoi - authenticity, patina, mystics, the hallmark of the original artist, what have You. That is not dependent on the quality and value of the material used - mammoth tooth or resin, this just changes the cash value. If You walk though a town entirely reconstructed on the old lines - like the old town center of Warsaw, destroyed in WW II and reproduced afterwards - You will sense quite strongly where lies the difference.
Best reegards to chess collectors galore, and a Great years End to all (polishing their chess sets, no doubt...)
Nicholas
