Chess Set, Staunton Type In Box
Chess Set, Staunton Type In Box
31967
Antique Staunton Style Chess Set With Board.
An early 20th century Staunton style chess set comprising thirty-two chess pieces (boxwood and ebonised wood), with broad turned bases for added stability and green baize to the undersides. The set is accompanied by a flat wooden chessboard and a mahogany storage box.
The four Knights are carved to represent the head and neck of a horse, with distinctive stylised features. The two Kings are the tallest pieces, measuring 9.8 cm high, each surmounted by a stepped cylindrical finial, whilst the two Queens, measuring 8.2 cm high, feature scalloped coronets topped with small balls. The four Rooks are fashioned as castle towers with crenellated tops, whilst the four Bishops have traditional mitres with diagonal cuts and ball finials. The sixteen Pawns are the smallest pieces, measuring 5.3 cm high, each topped with a plain ball. All the pieces have turned collars, with the exception of the Rooks and Knights.
The chessmen are housed in a mahogany box measuring 11 cm high, 20 cm wide and 15½ cm deep, with a hinged lid, metal catches and a baize-lined interior. The accompanying flat wooden chessboard has alternating light and dark squares, each measuring 4½ cm square, size shown is for the board.
Staunton chess sets were first made available by Jaques to the general public on 29th September 1849 and quickly became the standard style. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke, editor of the Illustrated London News, had registered his design earlier that year at the Patent Office on 1st March and named the style after the leading English chess master of the time, Howard Staunton. Staunton published chess articles for the Illustrated London News and was asked to endorse the chess sets by Cooke. The first 500 Jaques sets were numbered and hand-signed by Staunton, who actively promoted the new design whilst openly criticising other styles of chessmen.
Dimensions:
1900-1949
Circa 1920s
Wood
United Kingdom
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, with broad turned bases for added stability and green baize to the undersides. The set is accompanied by a flat wooden chessboard and a mahogany storage box.The four Knights are carved to represent the head and neck of a horse, with distinctive stylised features. The two Kings are the tallest pieces, measuring 9.8 cm high, each surmounted by a stepped cylindrical finial, whilst the two Queens, measuring 8.2 cm high, feature scalloped coronets topped with small balls. The four Rooks are fashioned as castle towers with crenellated tops, whilst the four Bishops have traditional mitres with diagonal cuts and ball finials. The sixteen Pawns are the smallest pieces, measuring 5.3 cm high, each topped with a plain ball. All the pieces have turned collars, with the exception of the Rooks and Knights.The chessmen are housed in a mahogany box measuring 11 cm high, 20 cm wide and 15½ cm deep, with a hinged lid, metal catches and a baize-lined interior. The accompanying flat wooden chessboard has alternating light and dark squares, each measuring 4½ cm square, size shown is for the board.Staunton chess sets were first made available by Jaques to the general public on 29th September 1849 and quickly became the standard style. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke, editor of the Illustrated London News, had registered his design earlier that year at the Patent Office on 1st March and named the style after the leading English chess master of the time, Howard Staunton. Staunton published chess articles for the Illustrated London News and was asked to endorse the chess sets by Cooke. The first 500 Jaques sets were numbered and hand-signed by Staunton, who actively promoted the new design whilst openly criticising other styles of chessmen.){kind=link}