This set is described by Victor Keats in his 1985 book The Illustrated Guide to World Chess Sets, page 152 as "Artistic and impressively made ceramic animal chessmen made in Bussano [Italy]... Yet another example of the Italians excelling as artistic innovators... Few ceramic sets achieved such a high standard as this set.

(Bassano del Grappa, edition of 200), with kings as lions, queens as lionesses, bishops as spotted leopards, knights as zebras, rooks as elephants with raised trunks, and pawns as monkeys in various poses, appears in Schachspiele Wandel Im Laufe Der Kunst Und Kulturgeschichte (Chess: Art History and Culture), Staatliches Museum Fur Vlkerkunde Munchen, 1988, plate 46, text pg 50.