Cabinet Card Photograph of Ajeeb, the Chess-Playing Automaton. This item is unavailable.Cabinet Card Photograph of Ajeeb, the Chess-Playing Automaton

A cabinet card photograph of Ajeeb, the famous nineteenth-century chess-playing automaton. The image corresponds to the known 1886 photograph of "Ajeeb the Wonderful" associated with the Eden Musée in New York. Ajeeb was created by English cabinetmaker Charles Hooper and first exhibited in London in 1868. By the 1880s it had been brought to the United States, where it became a popular attraction at the Eden Musée and later at Coney Island. Like the earlier Mechanical Turk, Ajeeb was presented as a mechanical chess player, but in fact concealed a human operator. The exposed chest panel and opened cabinet doors were part of the display, intended to preserve the illusion by showing Ajeeb's apparent machinery. Period accounts described Ajeeb as a Moorish figure seated on a cushion, with open cabinet compartments, a chessboard before it, and a mechanism that moved pieces against living opponents. This example is mounted by Eastman of Portland, Oregon. We have not found evidence that Ajeeb was exhibited in Portland, and the card may instead be a Portland-issued or locally mounted copy of the well-known Ajeeb photograph. Either way, it is a strong cabinet card image of one of the best-known nineteenth-century automaton illusions, with interest for chess, stage magic, mechanical entertainment, photography, and the prehistory of artificial intelligence. . Light wear, toning, and soiling; very good. Cabinet card photograph with scalloped edges, measuring approximately 4 ¼ x 6 ½ inches. Photograph shows the chess-playing automaton Ajeeb seated in robe and headdress before a chessboard, with the chest panel and lower cabinet doors open to display apparent mechanical workings. Photographer?s mount reads ?Eastman,? with Portland and East Portland addresses.…