Description
Large Thomas Lund Ebony Northern Upright Chessmen.
Offered here is a superb and very unique set of full Club size Thomas Lund Ebony Northern Upright Chessmen crafted from fine Boxwood and Gabon Ebony. The King stands a statuesque 4-3/8″ tall with an extremely wide 1-7/8″ diameter base, which greatly improved the stability of the design for practical play.
The pieces are heavily weighted and unfelted. The design of the Northern Upright chessmen, often referred to as the “Edinburgh” chessmen, was attributed to Lord Hay and produced from 1840 through the end of the 19th century.
The set is new and is an exact reproduction of early Victorian Period Upright chessmen
produced by noted ivory and wood turner Thomas Lund. Northern Upright chessmen were also produced by William Lund, Jaques of London, as well as several other top London turners. An image from a page from the 1860 Jaques Pattern book shows the Northern Upright chessmen as part of the Jaques offerings.
The Upright chessmen offered here are more slender and graceful in form than other upright sets of the period. Northern Upright chessmen were common in the early and mid-Victorian Period. The chess set includes a reproduction of the 1849 antique chessboard sown here.
An image of the legendary World Champion Paul Morphy with a set of Northern Upright chessmen is shown here. These English Playing sets were ultimately supplanted by the Staunton chessmen which were introduced to the public in September of 1849. This set of chess pieces plays and displays best on a chessboard with 2-1/4″ squares. The reproduction antique chessboard shown in the images is included in this offering. A wide assortment of new and antique chessboards can be purchased separately elsewhere on this website.
A Bit of History.
The Northern Upright Tournament chessmen, often referred to as the Edinburgh (sometimes Edinboro) pattern, fall into the ubiquitous category often referred to as English Playing sets, which also included the Saint George, Lund and Calvert patterns. The English Playing sets were ultimately supplanted by the Staunton chessmen which were introduced to the public in September of 1849. The Northern Upright chessmen were designed by Lord John Hay around 1840 and are believed to have been the inspiration for the Staunton chessmen. Similar sets of chessmen were made by Dixon, Thomas and William Lund, and John Calvert as well as George Merrifield and John Jaques, among others. The iconic image on the left shows American Champion Paul Morphy holding a Northern Upright King.
