Early 18th Century Dieppe Chessmen Here is a very interesting set of Dieppe Chessmen from the Northern France region, apparently dating to the early 18th Century. The King stands 3.4” tall with a 1.3” diameter base. The pieces are natural and red-stained. The two armies represent the “Europeans vs. Moors” (Africans), the dominant themes at the time. Dieppe’s role as the center of ivory working was undisputed for a long period, due to the extensive ivory trade of the French colony in Senegal with France. The chief conservator of the important collection of more than 2000 objects in the Château-Musées of Dieppe, explained, that from the 16th century onward, sailors of Dieppe again resumed the “ivory route” to Africa. An excellent treatise of Dieppe sets can be found here: Chess sets from Dieppe and Geislingen by B. Holländer – Welcome to the Chess Museum (chess-museum.com)   Below is the same set, an early 18th C. Dieppe set, in the rare combination of natural and green – from “Schachpartie durch Zeiten und Early 18th Century Dieppe Chessmen