Classic ! love that Lardy design.
French Lardy Chess pieces
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My favorite utilitarian pieces are based on the Lardy design, i.e., the standard USCF "Club Special" plastic pieces, and especially, the boxwood version of them:
I think that actual Lardy pieces look somewhat oddly proportioned, and the USCF "Club Special" pieces improved on that (either intentionally or unintentionally), making them look better while still being highly evocative of the Lardy design.
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Here's my Lardy set. The King is 2.75" and it's weighted. It's very nice to play with and judging by the black Knight's appearance, it's been played with a lot.
None of the other black pieces have the finish wearing off? Are they real ebony with black-stained boxwood knight heads like old Jaques of London pieces were?
My first " nice " set of pieces was a Lardy set and I still have several such sets , one of them with the laquered ( shiny ) finish and the others without . They will always be among my favorites simply because they were my first wooden sets ...
Chezzbazaar are soon releasing a reproduction of the French Lardy chess pieces.
So that's what they were originally... I bought a Chinese knockoff in a Berkeley games store some years ago and while they weren't perfect or detailed, I liked the rough-hewn quality in the hand. Decent price too.
A picture of my Lardy set, bought in 1970 :
I'm a player rather than a collector, but I really love this set although I usually play with my Henri Charvet 253/5 (not to be confused with Chavet, who are still in business under the name Jura Buis).
In this set the little horses which represent the knights are more stylized than figurative, yet they still show the characteristics of the Selene horses after an exhausting night, i.e. open mouth, dilated nostrils, bulging eyes and ears turned back.
(sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, unfortunately they do not do justice to the beauty of these pieces).
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About the chessbazaar set mentioned above:
I'm afraid that the so-called 'Lardy' CB set cannot be said to be anywhere close to a genuine French Lardy set : the CB pieces have fatter bottoms than true Lardy pieces and their shape is not as slender as it should be, the bishop's head is a bit too small, the proportions of the top of the rook turret are not correct, the top of the queen's head is thicker, the king's head shows a sharp edge instead of a soft edge and the queen is smaller than the king instead of having the same size (notwithstanding the button and the cross above their heads). In Lardy sets the knights show variability just like in every other kind of sets, nevertheless the CB knights have a je-ne-sais-quoi which makes me say they don't feel quite right, that's their shape which (on top of the lack of slenderness they share with their fellow pieces) shows a belly grossly hunched out instead of a proud chest:
(left: CB, right: true Lardy)
Oct 22, 2015
0
#31
Brackmar wrote:
A picture of my Lardy set, bought in 1970 :
I'm a player rather than a collector, but I really love this set although I usually play with my Henri Charvet 253/5 (not to be confused with Chavet, who are still in business under the name Jura Buis).
In this set the little horses which represent the knights are more stylized than figurative, yet they still show the characteristics of the Selene horses after an exhausting night, i.e. open mouth, dilated nostrils, bulging eyes and ears turned back.
About the chessbazaar set mentioned above:
I'm afraid that the so-called 'Lardy' CB set cannot be said to be anywhere close to a genuine French Lardy set : the CB pieces have fatter bottoms than true Lardy pieces and their shape is not as slender as it should be, the bishop's head is a bit too small, the proportions of the top of the rook turret are not correct, the top of the queen's head is thicker, the king's head shows a sharp edge instead of a soft edge and the queen is smaller than the king instead of having the same size (notwithstanding the button and the cross above their heads). In Lardy sets the knights show variability just like in every other kind of sets, nevertheless the CB knights have a je-ne-sais-quoi which makes me say they don't feel quite right, that's their shape which (on top of the lack of slenderness they share with their fellow pieces) shows a belly grossly hunched out instead of a proud chest:
Fascinating analysis, Brackmar. Thanks!
It was also the chess set used by Vladek Sheybal in the 1963
James Bond movie: From Russia with love.