House of Staunton's Morphy Set
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The kings come with leather pads...
Hi Chuck,
is it me....or is the Crown 👑 of the King.....minuscule? Likes the set overall, classy, but not pompous 😊
lofina_eidel_ismail wrote:
Hi Chuck,
is it me....or is the Crown 👑 of the King.....minuscule? Likes the set overall, classy, but not pompous 😊
Greetings, Princess. To my eye, it's not that the crown is small, but that the cross is perhaps small in proportion to the crown.
yes sorry, the cross 😋: is that the trademark of Staunton sets?
just wandering.....because I was looking at the plastic HOS sets advertised by wholesale, or chesshouse....and the cross did seem....small 😶
lofina_eidel_ismail wrote:
yes sorry, the cross 😋: is that the trademark of Staunton sets?
just wandering.....because I was looking at the plastic HOS sets advertised by wholesale, or chesshouse....and the cross did seem....small 😶
Most Staunton sets have crosses. I would call Eastern European sets that have finials Staunton as well, though I suppose opinions could differ. I wouldn't say HOS is distinguished by small crosses. I do see what you mean wioth this Morphy set, though.
Thanks much for these pics, CGrau 
I had considered ordering this set, but wondered how "Morphy" the Morphy HOS is. I have read two accounts of Morphy's set: (1) that it was made of red and white ivory, and (2) that it was a club size wooden set of the Staunton pattern. One can see pictures of Morphy sitting in front of a chess set that is non-Staunton pattern, but also a picture of him playing Lowenthal on what looks to be a club size Jaques. Official Staunton's Morphy set was squat 3.5 inch King.
What are your thoughts on the subject, Chuck?
You're very welcome, Mark.
I don't think there is anything about this set linking it to Morphy. Rather, I think it's linked to the classification system developed by Frank Camaratta and elsewhere criticized by Alan Dewey.
As I look at photos of various Jaques sets, I see this oversized rook in club-sized ivory sets and smaller-sized wooden ones. But Morphy? No connection I know of.
It would be interesting to know if Camaratta had been thinking of the style of set Jaques was making in the early 1850s, presumably popular in the clubs by 1858 when Morphy was in London. The resolution of the old photographs is not good enough to make out details on the pieces--at least, not the pictures of Morphy playing that I have seen. Perhaps, then, Camaratta made his best judgment from available history on what was the style of set Morphy played during his successful tour of Europe.
Impractical wrote:
It would be interesting to know if Camaratta had been thinking of the style of set Jaques was making in the early 1850s, presumably popular in the clubs by 1858 when Morphy was in London. The resolution of the old photographs is not good enough to make out details on the pieces--at least, not the pictures of Morphy playing that I have seen. Perhaps, then, Camaratta made his best judgment from available history on what was the style of set Morphy played during his successful tour of Europe.
Well, only Frank can say what he was thinking. He used some methodology to develop his codex. I've never seen it fully explained, though I've seen discussion of it. http://community.ebay.com/t5/The-Chess-Collectors/The-Camaratta-Codex-is-it-valid/gpm-p/6865347
chuck,
ah, silly question please = we store wooden chessboards upright??? chesshouse.com advised that it's best kept upright?.... well, what I really want to know is....how do you display a wooden set?
I store all mine with the pieces laying down in their box. I don't have any on display. I think if I did it would be in a case with a glass door to minimize dust and dusting.
cgrau wrote:
I store all mine with the pieces laying down in their box. I don't have any on display. I think if I did it would be in a case with a glass door to minimize dust and dusting.
thx, Chuck
Not long ago, Matt-L inquired about the House of Staunton's Morphy set. Here are some pics of mine, which is about ten years old.
It's ebony and boxwood, and has survived without cracking. The kings are 4.4" tall, and the set looks best on a board with 2.5" squares, as shown below. It's heavily weighted. It came with extra queens, which sport elegant coronets. The bishops have gracefully scooped miter cuts. The knights are very detailed and well-carved. The rooks are what distinguish this set from HOS's Collector line. They're much taller, much taller, in fact, than you'd find in old Jaques wooden sets. I seem to recall seeing them proportioned this way in some Jaques ivory sets.