Lot #287. Library Hybrid Jaques Zukertort Chessmen
Library Hybrid Jaques Zukertort Chessmen
Offered here is set of Boxwood and Ebony Hybrid Jaques Zukertort Chessmen, Library Size, unweighted and felted, with “Jaques London” inscribed on the base of the White King. The King stands 2-7/8″ tall with a 1-1/2″ diameter base. There are two color green baize base pads. This is a Jaques Library size chess set with pieces from two Zukertort style chess sets from a different cutting. In addition, one Ebony Knight is from a Jaques Library-size Anderssen Drop-Jaw set. These Hybrid Jaques Zukertort chessmen are housed in a replacement box. Both Rooks have the characteristic King’s crown stamp on their summits. With the exception of the one Ebony Knight, both halves of the set are from 1875. Except for a small chip on the Anderssen Ebony Knight, the pieces are undamaged and in exfellent condition for their age.
This is a very attractive Hybrid Jaques Zukertort chess set. Although this is a hybrid, it is very difficult to distinguish between pieces from the two sets. The set looks authentic at a normal playing distance. The chessmen are in excellent condition overall. This would make a very nice practical playing set.
The Staunton Pattern was first offered to the public for sale in the Fall of 1849 by the company of John Jaques of London. The original design was registered to Nathaniel Cooke in the Spring of that year. The chessmen design was named after the self-proclaimed world champion, Howard Staunton, an English Shakespearean scholar. Whether or not the design was actually the brainchild of Cooke is open to much speculation. It is relatively certain that the pattern was not designed by the egotistical Staunton, as he never laid claim to such.
What is known is that, on 1st March, 1849, Nathaniel Cooke, 198, Strand, London, registered an Ornamental Design for a set of Chess-Men, under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. At that date, there was no provision for the registration of any design or articles of ivory, registration was limited to Class 2, articles made chiefly of wood.
The right to manufacture such sets was acquired by John Jaques and he began to supply the retail trade on 29 September, 1849. On the same day, the following advertisement appeared Illustrated London News: AA set of Chessmen, of a pattern combining elegance and solidity to a degree hitherto unknown, has recently appeared under the auspices of the celebrated player Mr. STAUNTON. A guiding principle has been to give by their form a signification to the various pieces – thus the king is represented by a crown, the Queen by a coronet, &c. The pieces generally are fashioned with convenience to the hand; and it is to be remarked, that while there is so great an accession to elegance of form, it is not attained at the expense of practical utility. Mr. STAUNTON’S pattern adopts but elevates the conventional form; and the base of the Pieces being of a large diameter, they are more steady than ordinary sets.@ Illustrated London News, September 8, 1849.
