Description
Crusader Chess Set by E S Lowe.
Offered here is a hard-to-find, like-new, mid-century, Crusader Chess Set by E S Lowe in antique ivory and black colored plastic, Model Number 2506. The Chess Pieces are reminiscent of the Anri Montsalvat Chessmen. The chessmen are weighted and felted. The set includes an instruction booklet and a chessboard with black and gold squares. instructions. The King stands 4-1/2″ tall with a 1-1/2″ diameter base. The graphic cardboard display box has individual compartments for the chess pieces and measures 15-1/2″ by 11-1/2″. The pieces are excellent, and the display box is in very good condition with wear consistent with long-term shelf storage. The set was produced by the E. S. Lowe Company and dates to around 1975.
E. S. Lowe produced miniature chess and checker game sets that circulated widely among U.S. service personnel in World War II. The company continued to produce games and plastic toys after the war. In 1956, he bought rights from a Canadian couple who approached him with a concept of a game that they played on their yacht. Lowe highlighted its origins in naming the game Yahtzee. In 1959, Lowe produced the Renaissance Chess Set which featured highly detailed chess pieces based on the Renaissance period. The impressive design of these chessmen is still highly regarded today and the chess set is a popular collectors item. Milton Bradley purchased E. S. Lowe Company in 1973 for $26 million. An excellent history of the E. S. Lowe Company can be found in Duncan Polh’s excellent article.
