Lot #342. Signed Calvert Antique Ivory Flower Top Chessmen
Signed Calvert Antique Ivory Flower Top Chessmen.
A superb set of Signed Calvert Antique Ivory Flower Top chessmen, natural and red stained African ivory, circa 1820. The King stands 3-3/8″ tall and the chessmen are in excellent condition with the original cochineal red stain color. The base of the Rooks are stamped “Calvert 189 Fleet St.” The chessmen are housed in their original small Mahogany slide-top box stamped “Calvert 189 Fleet St.”
This design is attributed to John Calvert. Similar sets of chessmen were made by William Lund as well as John Jaques and Fischer, among others. This particular set was produced by John Calvert 189 Fleet Street. This English Floral Selenus-Style (“Petal and Pistil”).design is an evolution of the older Selenus designs which were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A page from the 1860 Jaques Pattern Book, which was lost when their factory was destroyed during a WWII German V2 attack, shows similar sets produced by them during that period. The pattern book was discovered in the 1990s during a site excavation where the Jaques factory previously stood.
