21 - Chessboard with a wooden core covered by an engraved and partially gilded iron plate forming the checkerboard; frame adorned with repoussé, openwork, and engraved iron plates; spandrels decorated with brass medallions depicting the Cardinal Virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, Prudence), sides adorned with repoussé silver medallions depicting the Four Continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, America), reverse painted in Nuremberg red, inscription engraved on the edge: “Gottfried Leigebe Schwertfeger in Nuremberg.”

Chessboard with a wooden core covered by an engraved and partially gilded iron plate forming the checkerboard; frame adorned with repoussé, openwork, and engraved iron plates; spandrels decorated with brass medallions depicting the Cardinal Virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, Prudence), sides adorned with repoussé silver medallions depicting the Four Continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, America), reverse painted in Nuremberg red, inscription engraved on the edge: “Gottfried Leigebe Schwertfeger in Nuremberg.” Nuremberg, workshop of Gottfried Leygebe (1630–1682), second half of the 17th century, 1653–1667 H.: 55.4 cm – W.: 55.7 cm (Minor imperfections) 8,000 / 12,000 Trained in Nuremberg in the workshop of the armorer Albrecht Liechtmann, Gottfried Christian Leygebe specialized in iron engraving, a craft he perfected under the engraver Georg Pfründt. The activity of his workshop, established in Nuremberg as early as 1653, is documented from 1664 through 1667, when he moved to Berlin. Particularly skilled in the creation of chiseled iron ornaments, he owed his fame to his hunting knife handles, pistol fittings, and sword hilts—such as the one he crafted in 1655 for Prince Heinrich Reuß zu Gera.