Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol. 116, Nos. 1/4, August 2004. p. 43-66.
Elliott Lieb's ice-type models opened up the whole field of solvable models in statistical mechanics. Here we discuss the "commuting transfer matrix" T, Q equations for these models, writing them in a more explicit and transparent notation that we believe offers new insights. The approach manifests the relationship between the six-vertex and chiral Potts models, and between the eight-vertex and Kashiwara-Miwa models.