The French Regence Series Luxury Chess Pieces - 4.4" King
Crafted to replicate the design and proportions of the original French Regence Chessmen, these chess pieces are named after the Café de la Régence in Paris. Widely considered the chess Mecca throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, it was frequented by such chess luminaries as Philidor, Saint-Amant, Morphy, Anderssen and even Howard Staunton. Frank A. Camaratta, Jr. and the House of Staunton are proud to offer the French Regence Chess Pieces.
"Crafted to replicate the design and proportions of the original French Regence Chessmen, these chess pieces are named after the Café de la Régence in Paris. Widely considered the chess Mecca throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, it was frequented by such chess luminaries as Philidor, Saint-Amant, Morphy, Anderssen and even Howard Staunton."
To pamper you, The House of Staunton is proud to offer the French Regence Series Luxury Chess set. This full Club-sized Chess set features a 4.4" King with a 1.325" diameter base. The Chess pieces are hand carved by our master artisans and crafted out of the highest grade woods and feature a striking dual color combination. The White army features both Ebonized Boxwood and Antiqued Boxwood, while the Black army features both Antiqued Boxwood and Ebonized Boxwood. The French Regence Series Luxury Chess set has been crafted to replicate the design of the chess pieces used at the Café de la Régence in Paris, France, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
As with all of our Chessmen, the French Regence Series Luxury Chess set exemplifies a perfect combination of distinct beauty and functionality. The design, quality and craftsmanship of this set is UNMATCHED by any set of Chessmen in its price range. Nothing even comes close!
The Chessmen are new and each set consists of 34 Chessmen, including 2 Queens.
34 Chess Pieces, including 2 Additional Queens (for Pawn Promotion)
History of the Chess Pieces
The French Regence Chessmen
Chess in the 18th century was centered in France, particularly Paris, where a café society was emerging, providing not only food and drink, but a relaxed ambience, encouraging clients to linger, enjoy their friends, smoke a good cigar, or enjoy a good game of cards, backgammon, draughts or chess.
The most famous of these was the Café de la Régence. Originally opened in 1670, by 1750 it had become a Mecca for chess players. Louis-Charles Mahé de la Bourdonnais, Francois-Andre Philidor, Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, Howard Staunton, Adolf Anderssen and the American phenomenon Paul Morphy were frequent patrons, along with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte. Other celebrities who frequented the establishment were Voltaire, Rousseau, and Robespierre. It is generally accepted that the style of chess sets used in the Café de la Régence earned the moniker French Régence because of its association with that famed establishment. You will sometime see this style of chessmen, but with simple turned Knights, referred to as the Franklin Chessmen.
From a practical chess playing perspective, antique French Régence and their antecedents, the Directoire chessmen, have several shortcomings. The chess pieces can be fairly unstable and easily overturned during play since the design originated well before the advent of weighting chessmen with lead, which was pioneered by Jaques around 1850. Also, the Queens, Bishops, and Pawns are sometimes confusing and difficult to tell apart. These design deficiencies were common to many pre-Staunton designs and were likely responsible for the huge success of the Staunton design.
Although sets of the true Régence style have been in use from the mid-18th century to well into the 20th Century, players were using similar sets long before the café earned its spurs and the design had a name. Sets like the Lyon and many later Mexican designs have their DNA rooted in the Directoire/Régence bloodline. The ubiquitous Régence chessmen survived well into early twentieth century, but were ultimately supplanted by the Staunton design, which became the International standard in 1924.
