Too bad there's no record of the games Madison and Jefferson played

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-nf-montpelier-chess-feb2,0,7665580.story

Montpelier archaeologists recently discovered one long-kept secret that had not seen the light of day in nearly two centuries: portions of two pawns from James Madison's chess set, most likely the same set Madison and Thomas Jefferson used in their many chess matches at Montpelier.

I've been searching all the news articles - no pictures. Does anyone know what the chess set looks like?

I don't think there's any images online.  They do have a replica set up at his house in Virginia.

Has anyone seen it? I'm just curious to find out if it's like anything we can purchase from HOS or somewhere. It would be pre-Staunton of course, so maybe something like a Calvert set or St. George maybe?

There's some more info out today

The hand-turned pieces are in the Old English or Washington style, known as such because George Washington also owned such a set, said Lynne Dakin Hastings, Montpelier’s vice president for museum programs.

The pieces are white and red, rather than white and black, and, as such, may seem a bit unusual to modern eyes. Both black and red pieces were in use during the period.

“This particular style of set, this Old English style, was very fashionable and very popular at the time,” Hastings said.

Looks like the curators found a set at a London Auction

Here is the set they bought.

Still haven't been able to find an identifying name of the type though.  If they were popular back then there must be a manufacturer's name

The style is familiar.

I wanted to look at some pics of old styles before I declared it was such and such a set.

Not sure we can say who the manufacturer was though.

They didn't label sets in the 18th century? 

Here are two examples from the old HOS site that resemble the Madison set:

Labled English Jefferson:

and this one called English Wash(ington):

I'll have to dig elsewhere for a name of this style.

I believe that any firm then could make a set of any style. Telling one manufacturer from another using such a tiny picture would be too much.

Perhaps George Washington is the proper name for this style as per the article, or does it look more like the Calvert to you?

Of the last batch of images you posted it looks most like Early Calvert based on the profile of the knight and the shape of the rook.

I really want close ups of the set they chose but so far it seems like a version of a Calvert to me (though not a perfect match to the image of the Calvert I provided by any means).

I asked the archaeologist what the name of the set is that they purchased for the display.  He indicated it is called a Washington or Old English Style set.