Jaques
Staunton Chess Sets 1849-1939
Available from the author for GBP £15 plus p&p: click on logo
knight to e-mail the author
Quick guide to Jaques Staunton Sets
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Early
knights
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Later
knights
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Bishops |
Sets
1 |
Sets
2 |
Sets 3 |
Sets 4 |
Stickers and Labels
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| Registration
stickers
1849-52 |
Early
labels |
Later
labels
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Latest
Additions
of
High Resolution Photos of Sets
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Groups of knights
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Gallery
of labels and discussion |
In
Statu Quo Travel Sets |
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| Lots
more Jaques Staunton
photos and descriptions |
Club size
Entered No. 8
The earliest extant set? |
Lord Lyttleton's Carton Pierre
casket |
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How
to distinguish between
Elephant and Mammoth ivory |
Jaques Congress Chess Timer
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JAQUES
STAUNTON CHESS SETS 1849-1939
A
Collectors Guide
Alan Fersht
ISBN-13: 978-0-9557325-0-8
Printed in the United Kingdom by Henry Ling Ltd, at the Dorset Press,
Dorchester, DT1 1HD
October 2007
For
some 200 years until World War
II, beautiful chess sets were made in England. Many can be bought for
just a few pounds because they are not designs still in use. They can
be found in antiques fairs and on ebay. My favourite sets
are Jaques Staunton, which are still the official tournament sets. You
don't have to own these fine antique
chess sets to admire them. I collect photographs of interesting sets,
most of which I take myself, and write about them. I like these sets so
much that I have written a
book to share my knowledge. The book will be updated on this site as I
learn new things and take and am given new photos.
Contents
Introduction
Labels, registration stickers and history
Pieces and dating
Kings
Knights
Bishops
Rooks
Queens
Pawns
Boxes
Two special sets
Leuchars' board
Sets
Collecting
Checklist
Further reading
Jaques Staunton Chess Sets 1849-1839 is written for both the amateur
collector and professional dealer as a guide to appreciating and dating
the most famous of chess sets. It is lavishly printed on 250 gsm silk
paper, as befits the quality of Jaques sets, with 27 colour
illustrations on 32 pages. It is bound between 350 gsm soft
covers. There is a brief history of Jaques Staunton sets written around
the first announcements in the press and advertisements and the style
of knights. The author describes how the labels reflect the history of
the company and how they can be used for dating sets and boxes. The
changes of style with time are analysed using extensive photographs of
the major types of knights, the other pieces and 20 representative
sets. The evidence for dating, from the Jaques’ signatures on
kings and labels, to the style of pieces and boxes is presented as well
as a guide to collecting and a checklist.
Available from the author for GBP £15 plus p&p. Order by e-mail.
My thanks to Bonhams Auction House, Garrick Coleman, Jon Crumiller. Tim
Millard, Dario Perez and Joost van Reij for allowing me to use their
excellent photographs or extracts from them.
By
the mid 19th century, the
British Empire bestrode the
world. For the best part of a hundred years, its merchant seamen had
plied the oceans for trade, and the Royal Navy had ruled the waves. Its
armies had fought numerous campaigns and occupied its far-flung
colonies. The British had been touring the historical sites of the
world, bringing home art and historical artifacts. At home, the
industrious Victorians were busy in their leisure time and loved games
like chess. A British chess player, Howard Staunton, was the unofficial
World Champion, having beaten the French champion St. Amant in Paris in
1843. London was a centre for the manufacture of chess sets to satisfy
the needs of the large middle class, the sailors and soldiers, and the
aristocracy. The carvers in Fleet Street made beautiful wistful looking
knights that complemented the tall elegantly turned chessmen in ivory,
bone and boxwood and ebony. But, these beautiful sets were spindly on
narrow bases, and more rugged sets were needed for match play and the
rough and tumble of regular games. One of the thriving wood and ivory
turners, John Jaques, had a brilliant idea that would transform the
design of chess sets for ever - he would make a set that was beautiful
in its functionality, be easy to produce on a large scale and would
have rugged pieces on heavy, stable bases that would not easily fall
over. Either he or his associate Nathaniel Cook designed the set that
was registered by Nathaniel on 1 March 1849. The sturdy turned rooks
looked like solid castles with impregnable walls, the pawns were
minimalist yet refined with a slim collar, the bishops had simple
mitres, the tall elegant king was readily distinguished by its cross,
and the queen had a distinctive coronet. The design of the knight was
inspired by the horses in the Elgin Marbles from the Athenian Parthenon
in the British Museum. Jaques capped the design with an even more
brilliant marketing strategy: he named his set the Staunton-Chessmen,
and used the vanity, influence and arrogance of the chess
champion-cum-journalist Howard Staunton to promote the sets unashamedly
at the expense of rivals.
The timeless beauty and the utility of the Staunton
pattern has made it the set of choice for players and it has been the
official standard for tournament play since 1924. The Jaques Staunton
is the Rolls Royce of playing sets and is highly prized by collectors
both for display and play. What also sets Jaques Staunton apart is that
over their long period of production there is documented information
about dating the sets and their evolution in design, which makes them a
feast for real collectors who are interested in the history of their
passion. For the first six or seven years, each set was individually
numbered, just like the father of English clock making, Thomas Tompion,
had done 150 years earlier for his clocks and watches. Details were
periodically published in the Illustrated London News and
advertisements in the press and trade journals. All boxes had trade
labels that changed in design and denoted key events that can be dated,
such as the elevation of Jaques son to a partnership and the
incorporation of the company as Limited.
MORE
PHOTO LINKS
Jon Crumiller's amazing collection
Frank Camaratta's authoritative
site
Tim Millard's fine sets with
photos
Garrick Coleman -
top dealer's site
Dermot Rochford's
photos and essays
Dario Perez's
superb photos
Alan Dewey - top
restorer's site
Copyright © 2007, 2008, Alan Fersht.
No part of this website may be reproduced in any form, electronic or
otherwise, without the express prior permission of the copyright holder.
