Lajes Civil Airfield
This chess game from the 18th century is part of Angra do Heroísmo Museum’s Toys and Games Collection. Given its great historical, artistic and aesthetic value, it is considered a rarity. It was built in the Far East with exotic and valuable materials, the pieces were carved with meticulous and remarkable refinement. It was probably brought from India to the archipelago by an Azorean, a member of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, who did his military service there. This illustrates the regular participation of Azoreans in the “Pacification Campaigns” military deployments of the former Portuguese colonial empire. This piece would have been maintained in the family of that soldier until 2008 when it was acquired by the museum.