Chess Sets – Miniature Tribal – colour – Zulu/Xhosa – TCM1

In this tale of survival two of the oldest tribes in Southern Africa, return to their heritage in this struggle for territory over arable land. These two groups of people, each with their own language, culture, rituals, laws and traditions; both surviving and thriving off the land pit it out on our unique themed chess board.

This Zulu/Xhosa Tribal Themed Chess Set brings you closer to the centre of this tribal drama as you take on the roles of these two tribes.

These are but a few of the wonders of the traditions that were followed by these ubiquitous tribes of Southern Africa. It’s the marvel of this authenticity, the richness of this heritage, and the grandeur of their tales that Gala Star encapsulates in this Zulu/Xhosa Tribal themed chess set, in every piece. All taking place upon a flawlessly crafted Kiaat, Koto or  Maple wood board.

Great care has been taken to capture their ways in this unique chess set. The Xhosa and Zulu people for example, have a rich history of manufacturing their own clothing, jewellery, weapons and crockery. Certain clothing for example would indicate a woman’s marital status or that a man was to soon be betrothed. Buildings were sculpted and decorated differently to indicate the rank of the owner. Hunters and warriors would fashion weapons from hard materials such as wood or stone. Jewellery would be woven from reeds with hours of care, delicacy and skill. Exceptional expertise would be used to weave reeds or carve out boulders into invaluable water pots, ultimately used to store and transport the precious commodity of water.

Hours of research, coupled with immediate exposure to these revered tribes, assist to ensure that they are captured historically true-to-life in this miniature Zulu/Xhosa Tribal themed chess set. The keen details of the virtuous warriors, the precise patterns of the ladies wraps, the complex carve of the water-pots, right down to the pose and position each member holds themselves in, ensures that when you take home this ground-stone chessboard it truly reflects South African tribal history.

All pieces in this unique chess set were sculptured in-house, produced from custom made, hand-designed moulds, followed up with hours of the finest attention in hand-painted colouring, with a focus on intricate detail, to give authenticity to this Zulu/ Xhosa themed chess set. The tallest chess piece in the collection is the revered Zulu Chieftain, standing rightfully tall at a height of 75mm, with all the chess pieces having a base diameter of 20mm. This fits perfectly on the 50mm2 chess squares on our ground stone chess board. As always, great care has been taken to neatly and securely package the 4kg chess set to prevent damage while transporting or storing.