Starr chess

A gold and silver-plated chess set, modelled on the hands of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, has gone on show in a Tokyo department store.

The piece, commissioned by fellow band member George Harrison in 1973, was displayed at Takashimaya to mark the opening of a new Asprey store.

The London jeweller is selling replica sets for £15,000 each.

Starr apparently learned to play chess during the making of the Sergeant Pepper album, released in 1967.

The "hands", designed by Robin Crookshank, are set in a certain gestures to represent each chess figure, and include the rings worn by the star.

The Takashimaya department store, established in the 1930s in Kyoto as a kimono shop, is now an eight-storey shopping and dining emporium.