Description
Calvert Style Bone Travel Chess Set.
An early Victorian Calvert Style Bone Travel Chess Set. The bone pegged chessmen are natural and red-stained. The accompanying folding box/chessboard is Mahogany with 1-3/8″ Rosewood and Satinwood squares, measuring 12″ square and 1-3/4″ thick, opened, with a removable piece that mounts into the chessboard to prevent the chessmen from falling out when the pieces are stored and the board/box is folded. The King is rather large for a travel set and stands 2-3/8″ tall. The set is complete and in excellent condition.
The Calvert pattern is a very playable design which has survived well into thew 20th Century. They are available in a multitude of sizes, qualities and materials, including several wood species, bone, ivory, stone, Bakelite and even metal. During the Victorian period, Calvert Style Travel Chess Sets were produced by almost all the known manufacturers, including Jaques of London, F. A. Ayers, William and Thomas Lund, George Merrifield and Dixon, among others.
The Calvert pattern chessmen are a subset of the ubiquitous English Playing Sets.