Chess board, thought to have been owned by Charles I, up for auction

The early-17th century amber games board, attributed to Georg Schreiber.

A 17th century amber games board, believed to have been owned by Charles I, is up for auction tomorrow, with an estimate price of £300,000 - 500,000 ...

Lot 80 in Sotheby’s sale of European Sculpture & Works of Art: Medieval to Modern, the games board dates from the early-17th century golden age of amber production in Königsberg.

Believed to be the work of the celebrated ‘master of royal chess-sets’ Georg Schreiber, the board features a chess and Nine Men’s Morris boards on the outside, with a backgammon board inside and 28 contemporary draughtsmen.

Sotheby's notes on the board's provenance suggest that it was perhaps owned by Charles' father, James I, or his elder brother Henry. According to the Hesketh family tradition (the board was in the possession of the family for most of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century) it first passed out of royal ownership by being given to William Juxon, Bishop of London (later Archbishop of Canterbury).

Juxon was selected by Charles to accompany him to the scaffold and read him the last rights, and the Hesketh records suggest the board was given to him prior to the king's execution.

Juxon's chair and footstool, now in the V&A, are also reputed to be linked with this event.

The board in the Sotherby's catalogue