Reproduction and Real Jaques of London Chess Set

Or repro's of repro's... "check out our Reproduction of Chessbazaar's 2019 Jaques 1849 Reproduction...we think we've mimicked their fake antiquing just right"

A troubling thought.

Do you think any of my fakes will make it?

Our most recent antiqued / ebony set 4.4" King 

Good lord! is varnish free over there?^^^

chessspy1, do antique sets really look like the one pictured above? It looks like somebody buried it in a flower pot. If I found a set in this condition, I'd clean it up, wouldn't you? If they really wanted to create a "distressed" set, why not break a finial off a bishop, or an ear off one of the knights. Now that would look more authentic.

Hi Lou,

To answer your question about the 'look' of antique sets.

I worked in Portobello market as a restorer for about 25 years. Although I concentrated on chess sets I also took 'smalls' (basically this means anything you can carry,) as well, not metal or glass or ceramic as there were already established specialists in these fields.

I worked mostly in natural materials, wood, bone, and so on. So I got a feel for what is termed the 'look' of a genuine antique object in good attic condition.

Occasionally I would come across a set which looked like the one above. Its history would usually be that it was an oldish set, not quite antique but much used in either a club or in a workplace and hence had gotten quite dirty with use. When it came into a dealers hands he would wash the surface dirt off and then seeing he had ruined it (old wood goes really pale when washed) he would varnish the set with polyurethane, thinking to hide his abuses and make it look old and hopefully saleable.

This is what I am seeing above, as a 'look'. The real story may well be different.

I could not recommend damaging a set to make it look old.

Here's one of mine, from 1870 or so:

These are a bit grubby and unattractive and need something - I was going to clean them when I got round to it but not now that I've read Alan's comment above.  

 I have disliked the antiquing ever since it showed up in this Chess set market.  My thinking is that if I want a set that looks old, I would buy a set that is old.

There are indeed some of these original sets that are exceptionally designed and weighted.  However, with today's technology we see new sets that are just as nice in design and weighting.  Of course not all the newer sets are that nice, but not all the older sets are that nice either.

I remember when OS came out with a resin set that looked dirty.  Now this latest antiqued job looks dirty as well.  I definitely am in the camp of keeping new sets looking new.

yes Alan you're right, we call these distressed and club worn range! Did you ever come Across Richard Dennis whilst in Portobello?  He is a leading authority on Moorcroft and Dennis China and close family friend.. 

Fair point Ron  

If Richard Dennis had a stall in Portobello between 1980 and 2005 then, yes, although I didn't do ceramics, so our acquaintance would have been 'in passing'. Unless he also sold mixed 'smalls'

There was a chap who made up quite a collection of china whilst dealing in Portobello although I didn't, as I said, have much in the way of dealings with those guys.

Maybe  there should add crooked king syndrome for authenticity too ?

https://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/wood-turning/features/profiles/europe/a-tribute-to-bill-jones-part-1/

I knew Bill Jones through our correspondence, he lived just a few miles from me (in Rochester Kent) but we never met, he was quite a letter writer.

He was like his father Bertram an awful carver.

People who saw him demonstrating marvelled at his technique and the finish of his work. People who new him personally were amazed by his manners, his humility and his humble nature.

His articles in Woodturning magazine, Notes from the Turning Shop and The Complete Turner both, in his inimitable style, informed and entertained readers for many years.

Handwriting

Bill was a member of The Society for Italic Handwriting and for a group of selected readers; the articles were posted in his own handwriting shortly after publication. I was fortunate enough to be on this list. The stapled pages were usually accompanied by a yellow or pink Post-It note, containing some personal message or comments about the editor of the magazine for changing his text, which he considered absolutely taboo.

He not only had lovely handwriting, he was also very good at drawing 'pen and wash' pictures to a very high standard. An example of his work depicting 'Bertram at the Lathe' can be seen in the image gallery.

Chess sets

Making prestigious chess sets ran in the family. Just as Bertram had produced chess sets of the highest standard, Bill's chess sets to the Copenhagen/Tulip design were very highly esteemed and won several prizes. He was a very prolific turner. Just like Bertram, he could produce a 75m (3in) tall knight in about an hour.

He produced countless boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) boxes with ivory decorations and screw on lids. He also made many ivory, scalloped, screw top boxes with the scalloping lining up perfectly when the lid was screwed on. His baby rattles were admired and copied, but very seldom equalled. The one in the image gallery was one of the attempts he found good enough to present to Lady Di, when William was born.

Still, he couldn't carve for toffee.

The knight's heads on both his sets and Betram's are considered pretty poor things.

Bertram never quite got the hang of carving faces (for French set fakes) on the bias, that is to say, the face is carved corner to corner of a more or less square block so that the features (like the nose) stand out. Bertram's faces were always flat. 

Really? hmmm I dunno, this looks incredibly good to me! 

 The finish on the chessmen is superb, in the true Bill Jones fashion. The pieces are segmented and threaded together. Bill’s thread work was unparalleled in the industry. The bottoms of the threaded shanks are slightly domed and polished to a high luster – another hallmark of Bill Jones work. However, the most unique feature of Bill’s chessmen is his Hallmark Knight head

and for those who prefer natural non antiqued sets here is one of our reproduction knight heads. 

I must say I agree with GM4-U that these carvings and his antique sets look nice.  No new set will look exactly like an old set weathered by 150 years of existence.  The same difference between old and "distressed" new can be noted in furniture or cabinetry, but people still like the "antiqued" or "distressed" look.  It reminds me of a story:

A person I know who occupies the 0.1% here in America had new doors and cabinets put in his $M home, and walked in as the carpenter was "distressing" one of the new doors.  He demanded that the distressing be stopped and the (expensive) doors be replaced.  Some time later he came to visit my modest abode wherein my wife and I had chosen a new wood flooring, with "distressed" planks.  He repeatedly commented how nice our new flooring looked.

The eye of the beholder?

Hi Carl, what set is #3313? A link would be great, Thanks