Overstamped Leuchars Chessmen- by Official Staunton

The first batch of these beautiful historic sets are soon to arrive at our warehouse ; we are taking pre-orders for these highly anticipated and accurate Leuchars Chessmen reproductions. 

Chess.com members; please message for a discount code!

https://www.officialstaunton.com/collections/chess-pieces/products/antique-overstamped-leuchars-chess-pieces

Leuchars
was established at 47 Piccadilly, London in 1794 by James Leuchars.
In 1820, the business moved to 38 Piccadilly shortly before James Leuchars died in 1822.

Lucy Leuchars, James’ widow, continued the business under the name of L. Leuchars. In 1837, the same year as Queen Victoria came to the throne, the firm was awarded the Royal Warrant for their supply of dressing cases to the royal family. Expanding to 39 Piccadilly in 1841, the name had now changed to Lucy Leuchars & Son; the ‘Son’ referring to William Leuchars. After Lucy’s death in 1847, William gained sole responsibility for the business.

Leuchars exhibited  at the Great Exhibition of 1851, the International Exhibition of 1862, and went on to win a silver medal for their dressing cases at the 1867 Paris Exposition.
In 1870, under the name of Leuchars & Son, William Leuchars along with his son, also called William, opened a further shop at 2 Rue de la Paix in Paris. When William Sr died in 1871, the business was continued on by William Jr, and it was under his control that they won a gold medal for their dressing cases at the 1878 Paris Exposition.
In 1884, Leuchars moved their existing manufactory from 31 Gerrard Street, Soho, London to 8 Sherwood Street, Golden Square, London.

William Jr finally agreed to sell the business, along with their Sherwood Street manufactory, to Asprey in 1888. Leuchars continued to trade from their 38 & 39 Piccadilly address until 1902.

Carl,

Beautiful set, but doesn't your knight look slightly undersized compared to the original Leuchars ivory set pictured below?

Thanks Lou! 

the set is a reproduction from this Leuchars original 

Who is to say that the ivory set is the same as the wood sets made?  As anything else made during that time I do believe you can find different changes to the design over time.  The wood set I have seen that is original does look different than the ivory knights.  To me no big deal.  I like it better than the 1849 Jaques.  But that is me.

Carl, does the new set employ the new weighting system? What a historic set and a great edition to the chess set collector's world.  Thank You. 

Okay, I see where you're coming from. Your set looks like a dead-on match for the original pictured above.

BTW, a wooden version of the above ivory Leuchars would be a welcomed addition to any collection (hint, hint).

yes, not only that it also has the new antique process ......

Lou, what's the source for this pic? Doesn't look like a Leuchars to me...

Lou, I googled the image and it looks like a set offered by Frank Camaratta a while back. And I think I've identified the cause of the confusion - The Leuchars Overstamped refers to a batch of early 1849 Jaques sets that were overstamped (ie rebranded) and then sold by Leuchars. Apparently, Leuchars in later years sold their own sets (non-Jaques) and your pic looks to be such a set (ie it's not manufactured by Jaques).

Thanks Carl for offering this absolutely gorgeous Leuchars reproduction. Your continuing efforts to bring out new reproductions is applauded. 

Thank so much Mike! 

That's interesting. When did Leuchars start making their own sets?

This info is according to Frank Camaratta - see here:

http://chessantiques.com/product/leuchars-ivory-staunton-chessmen/

He's saying soon after 1849. I actually suspect they did not manufacture there own but outsourced to Chinese ivory carvers. The set depicted looks very similar to Cantonese Staunton sets, which is why I would date it more towards the latter end of the 19th century.

This info is according to Frank Camaratta - see here:

http://chessantiques.com/product/leuchars-ivory-staunton-chessmen/

He's saying soon after 1849. I actually suspect they did not manufacture their own but outsourced to Chinese ivory carvers. The set depicted looks in some ways similar to Cantonese Staunton sets, which is why I would date it more towards the latter end of the 19th century.

Beautiful set that !! I love the fierce Knight look. And the wide bases. 

Overstamped Leuchars have arrived and Available for immediate dispatch, we now ship to the US for only £9.95!