This figure is part of an artist's proof or prototype set for a chess set made by Cybis and presented by President Nixon to the U.S.S.R.
According to the Cybis Archive, the White House commissioned the set to be presented during the 1972 Moscow Summit between President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Brezhnev. The set was inspired in part by the 14th-century Nine Heroes Tapestry, based on a 1310 poem by Jacques de Longuyon. The set was designed by Harry Burger, Jr.