Old Vienna Chess Sets

@sleepingdancer - The set is superb! I particularly like the little knob finials on the pawns. Very unique!!!

I have a few Vienna coffeehouse sets myself. Here is one of them.

@EfimLG47 Your set is beautiful and seems to be late 19th or early 20th century. I love the detailed, elegant Knights. I am still looking for a Vienna set with fine Knights. Now I show you the set that arrived today into my collection. The chesspieces are fairly big (K=9,5 cm). This is a more customary version, I think from the mid 20th century going back in style to the 19th century. I love the chunky King and Queen. Shown on a board 42x42 cm, belonging to the set I showed earlier.

@sleepingdancer - Beautiful and unusual set of yours. Very unique shapes. I like it.

Here is another one from my collection. I finally found the time to take pictures. It is an Austrian coffee house chess set that vividly represents the transition between the Biedermeier period and the early Vienna coffee house style. I would date it to around 1860-1880. On the bishops you can still see the hats typical for the Biedermeier period. They are of flat round shape, but have a small bobble on top instead of the usual feathers. In contrast, the other pieces already correspond to the emerging Vienna coffee house style. The kings and queens have clearly pronounced broad crowns. While the crown of the queens already indicates the pointed crown shape typical of the Vienna coffee house style, the crown of the kings is essentially wide and sweeping and has only a small drop-shaped finial. Compared to the Biedermeier style, the knights are much more delicately carved with pointed ears and a curved mane. They are considerably larger overall, but do not yet have the pointed head shape of the later coffee house sets. The slender cylindrical shape of the rooks has also disappeared and was replaced by a massive tower with a broad base and widely projecting crenellations. The pawns no longer stand on flat pedestals, but have an altogether wide and massive base. The king height in this set is about 70 mm.

@EfimLG47 Absolutely stunning set! 

• I found and bought This set unic with the superb work in the Horses and few diferent Queen @EfimLG47, realy love this antic set. I Don't Know or see were is The button to link My photo.

Very, very nice set. Congrats!

Wonderful!

@MCH818 - that is stunning! For me, these coffee house sets are near the top of the aesthetic tree and yours is wonderful. Those knights and the dark side wood grain. Wow! Are they also one piece by any chance? The grain seems to suggest they may be …

The perfectionist may be disappointed by a few collar chips but in truth they are minor and part of the story and don’t seem to immediately catch the eye.

Having seen a number of your sets in this forum, I find it hard to believe this isn’t the no.1 - and that is not disrespecting your other sets - more how much these sets are so beautiful! Well played good man. 
And mate … next photos… on a table, perhaps side-lit by a lamp and a glass of wine or single malt (or coffee) to really set the tone. 😉😊

Yes - frustrating if the description and the reality don’t match. Great that you have many wonderful sets that sit above this. I’m envious.
It’s fair to say that my favourite pieces seem to change with the wind - and so when the wind changes - rotate the sets and enjoy.
As I’ve said before - we are all fortunate here…. with all else going on in the world we can connect and enjoy discussions on the nuances of chess pieces; perhaps it’s our collective escape from solving the problems of the world. 👍
PS - I’m glad you mention Chavet being a favourite - more to follow in time - but I have finally taken the plunge to fill this gap and I am really looking forward to seeing such sets in the flesh.

I think it isn’t right for sellers to not mention condition issues of collectibles so I can make an informed decision as to whether I would buy the set for the bid I made MCH818 ,

Point is are you going to be happy with the set or not ? I would sent it back or get seller to give a refund on the repair bill at least ,

Gorgeous set MCH!

@mch818

Extraordinarily vivid and beautiful pieces, you'd take this to a chess cafe today or tomorrow and happy playing! Unbelievable

If you are the seller of a collectible item (sports memorabilia, vinyl records, stamps, vintage cars, blah, blah, blah) MCH818

Me stop buying vinyl 1st pressing year ago s as prices when silly ,as for stamps me stop when I was a Kid , now vintage cars me not have the money or the space , Same now seem;s to be with them old bits of wood you know the kind that sits on SQs or in a box . I am very happy no longer a addict , I just say NO .

@Lighthouse Yeah all of those items went crazy during the pandemic. My friend showed me some of his sports collectibles last time I saw him and I couldn’t believe the prices. I’m just glad I didn’t have to buy a car vintage or modern in the last 3 years. Of course, we all saw chess equipment prices go crazy. It seems prices for vintage chess stuff has gone down a bit. I also see lots 20% off coupons at HoS so maybe prices will continue to go down. Btw, I still say yes. Haha!

Another gem! Congratulations!

Yes it takes will power , bit like giving up smoking , You know whats worst is when the set has a frankenstein mix + when the seller wants a lot / like I found it in the attic , or selling for a friend or it was my granddads , or I do not know much about chess set but still wants alot for It as its old , This really put me off buying old Russians set as there are so many old & new remakes on esty , coming out of eastern europe missing parts or just being battered by to many cold winters , along with high shipping cost then import tax + vat .

If you can live without vintage,there are some extremely nice Soviet sets available.

@MCH818

Yeah, that would truly be cool to have a couple of games together with a few cups of Mokka!

Here is my pic 'tall visitors on a small board'

The tall pieces discussing the scene: -'Hand-sanding went poorly, he'd love the laquer back on rich&sticky.' -'Thank god at least he didn't touch the knights.' -'Though he ought to have some, he is a man without qualities: Not only is he mate..' -'..but he also gave rook odds!' All laugh heartily.

Here is the set in daylight:

Horsing around Wiener Schmäh.