hmm, my pictures didn't post
Proto Lardy?
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I'm using a windows laptop and I've had a chess.com ID since 2021, but I haven't logged in using my ID in a long time, could that be the problem?
Could be a glitch. You can try uploading to a cloud drive and share link here with view access if possible
I've tried several times to post my photos with no luck. I may have to give up.
In the meantime, I've seen recent posts here that claim early Chavet and Phidias knights look very similar to Lardy knights and might have been made in the same workshop. Is that true?
I've seen other info that says "proto-Lardy" refers to sets made prior to WW2. I'm still interested in a good definition of what "proto-Lardy" means; and see some examples.
What I've read elsewhere about the Lardy prototypes is a term used by collectors to describe sets similar or very similar to Lardy's, but without being certain they are actually Lardy pieces.
I can confirm that there are at least three French manufacturers who used the type of knight known as "Lardy," meaning "thin heads."
It remains to be determined who made what.
Two hypotheses:
either everyone sourced the upper parts of their knights from Lardy (I don't believe this), or each manufacturer, or at least one other lathe operator besides Lardy, had a machine to make them. I know that Chavet bought Lardy's machines around 1992, but only to prevent them from falling into the hands of a new competitor.
But I can confirm that there were also specialized lathe operators for knights, and that all the lathe operators could call upon them, since they were skilled and, above all, independent.
The two video links show the manufacturing of the Lardy chess pieces in 1975. This machine was very new and allowed Lardy to increase its production fivefold for the 1974 Olympic chess games.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/set-i-d-help#comment-122313882
I have seen the term 'Proto Lardy' used in reference to sets, but I'm not sure what it means. Does it mean that it's an early Lardy set? ... or what?
I have this set (3-inch king, weighted and felted, but with a couple mis-matched pieces) that has a lot of wear and seems to indicate old age, and looks like a "proto-Lardy" set on the Chess Museum web site. Is it a proto-Lardy set?