After the October revolution in 1917, art and chess were initially encouraged by the communist government, and used to propagate their new ideals and political system to the soviet people and to other nations. The Lomonosov Porcelain Factory made a number of striking chess sets designed by the sculptress Natalia and her sister, the artist Yelena. They produced a “proletarian style” for chess sets which complemented the prevailing fashion for Art Deco in the United States and Europe. 

One of their sets, entitled “Town and Country” has factories and industry on one side, opposed by fruit and corn. The pieces have been created in an attractive, colorful, surreal, form. The sisters’ most successful design was named by the Dandos as the “Reds and Whites”. This set is of interest for its propagandist subject matter: capitalists versus workers. It is also admired as a set of notable artistic merit. The styles of the chessmen harmonise as a complete entity, unified by the strong colours obtained from the quality porcelain created in the manufacturing process. The well made chessmen depict on one side the reds – workers liberated from industrial slavery. They are presented as being happy and strong. Facing them are the whites, greedy capitalists, their workers kept in chains, controlled by a king who is the embodiment of corruption and death. The set was originally made in 1922; it was out of production from 1939 onwards due to the outbreak of World War II.