Elm Burl and Maple Superior Traditional Chessboard

The House of Staunton is proud to introduce our newest masterpiece - The Exeter Artisan Series Chessmen. These Chessmen feature a 4.4" King with a 2.0" Diameter base and are very heavily weighted.

As with all of our Chess sets, the Pro-Line Series Chessmen exemplifies a perfect combination of distinct beauty and functionality. It has been designed to withstand the rigors of practical play while maintaining an elegance which has become the hallmark of a House of Staunton chess set. The design, quality and craftsmanship of this set is UNMATCHED by any set of Chessmen in its price range. Nothing even comes close!

This chess set shows the elegance of the Roman era. The chessmen are made of an antiqued ground stone with the opposing side stained a rich burgundy brown.

"Created to commemorate the last of the celebrated St. Petersburg Tournaments, which was held in 1895, they feature the form, board presence and exquisite craftsmanship of one of the most celebrated turn-of-the-century designs from Jaques of London."

This beautifully rich combination of chessmen and display case is a wonderful complement to any collection. The chessmen are faux ivory, so close to the original it would be difficult to determine the old from the new. This elaborate early 1800s English Playing Chess Set design, referred to in the literature as a Calvert Pattern, is derived from earlier German designs from the 15th through the 19th centuries. It is often, but wrongly, attributed to John Calvert, a Master of the Worshipful Company of Turners, located at 189 Fleet Street, from around 1790 to 1840. He specialized in exquisitely turned Chess sets in ivory for the aristocracy and in ebony/boxwood for the many coffee shops and clubs where Chess was a popular pastime. Chessmen of this type were actually manufactured throughout the early-to-mid Victorian period by John Jaques of London and Thomas Lund of Cornhill. The Calvert playing sets were ultimately supplanted by the Staunton pattern chessmen, which were introduced to the public in the fall of 1849 by the firm of John Jaques of London. The pattern dates from 1815, at which time white and red colored ivory pieces were popular. The slender baluster stems and the unusual form of the King and Queen with their pierced floral crowns, makes an attractive and highly decorative design. This reproduction is an exact copy of the original the original Calvert Chess set that is crafted from bone. The bone that was used to craft these Chessmen was hand selected by our lead craftsman to insure that only the purist, whitest bone was used. The result is a striking Chess set whose color and appearance is very similar to that of Elephant Ivory. THESE ARE ACTUAL HAND CARVED BONE CHESSMEN - Not to be confused with our faux Ivory Calvert Chessmen.

"With a strong hint of the Art Deco look that is reminiscent of the 1920s, they completely capture the essence of a serious set of chessmen while at the same time maintaining a look of pure elegance."

The House of Staunton is proud to offer the Classic Series Chess set. It features a 3.5" King with a 1.5" diameter base. The Chess pieces are hand carved by our master artisans and crafted out of the highest grade woods.

The most striking aspect of the Fischer Series Chess Set is the beautiful patina on the Boxwood (White) Chessmen.