Reproduction and Real Jaques of London Chess Set

We use Indian ebony 

I think brown striped ebony can be very attractive. Just my opinion. 

I'd also prefer a not-pitch-black ebony in a repro set.

edit: it always creates rather annoying effect when the white pieces are antiqued and the black pieces are perfectly black.
Just my two cents.

Ah!! Now we get to the heart of the EXACT reproduction question. In 1849 when Jacques created the immortal "Staunton" Pattern, TRUE ebony was quite common, as was Ivory hence the term Ebony and Ivory to denote a piano. Or the fact that one "tickles the Ivory" ie one plays the piano.  Today you are not allowed to buy Ivory -- unless it is Woolly Mammoth Ivory -- and TRUE Ebony is an endangered species and can no longer be cut, with stock being limited to any existing on hand -- when that's gone, its gone. Period. That means that you can NOT create a TRUE Boxwood and Ebony 1849 set as you can NOT BUY TRUE Ebony. That said you can get an EXACT proportionally  (measurement wise) correct set, and one half of the set (Boxwood), but NOT the the Ebony Half. For the Ebony half you can get a lesser grade of Ebony, which is likely to show BROWN interspersed with the BLACK, or you can have a TRUE BLACK wood using a faux Ebony called African Blackwood.

Truthfully I think HoS idea of creating sets using alternate woods other than BOXWOOD and EBONY is a great idea. Now IF I were in the market HoS had at one time a Camaratta 4.4" "Fantasy" 1849 set made of Boxwood and Rosewood, which actually was listed by Jacques for sale, but no such set has ever been found. If you extend that idea out, there is no reason why one could not have and EXACT ( ie correct style pieces, and EXACT proportions and measurements) REPRODUCTION set but made with different types of of woods both for the Light colored Pieces and Dark colored pieces. This more than any other reason is WHY I like The Exotique Collection® from the House of Staunton - - Imperial Collector Series w/4.0" King, or w/ 4.4" King. Timeless chess designs handcrafted out of the most exotic woods available!

IF the idea of creating artistically pleasing chess sets using various exotic woods beyond the rather boring Boxwood and Ebony set, you build upon the rather crude -- by today's standards -- sets created by Jacques a Century and a half ago (approximately for nit pickers), creating durable works of art that are fully playable and like the original Jacques design you don't have to worry of breaking some fine carving during a rough and tumble blitz match.

This is where HoS or OS, or... would get together with someone with EXPERT KNOWLEDGE of hardwoods to select only those types of woods that are not prone to cracking (like genuine Ebony or Sandalwood sometimes called "Blood Rosewood") and would make attractive chess set from. IF this idea were to catch on EACH chess set produced would likely be an ORIGINAL rather than a COPY, and EACH set would UNIQUE. The actual ART of Chess can be expressed by the owner's selection.

In a day when computers are figuring out EVERY CORRECT move than can be made, chess has become more a battle of COMPUTER lines, rather than the human mind. Chess would once again become a game about refinement.  A well made chess set that is artistically pleasing is something a COMPUTER will NEVER be able to replicate or truly APPRECIATE.

@azbobcat - a couple of questions and comments, if I may:

• "TRUE Ebony is an endangered species and can no longer be cut, with stock being limited to any existing on hand" - Could you please explain what you mean exactly with "TRUE Ebony" or "genuine ebony" and "lesser grade of Ebony"? Which botanical types are you talking about? Are we talking about different timbers or about different qualities of the same timber?
• "Today you are not allowed to buy Ivory" - only true to some parts of the world, in particular parts of the US and (soon) the UK
• "Sandalwood sometimes called 'Blood Rosewood'" - in most cases, Blood Rosewood or Bud Rosewood is African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii), which is not a Sandalwood. In some cases, "Red Sandalwood" is used, but that is not Sandalwood either, but Burmese Padauk (Pterocarpus santalinus). Both timbers belong to the Pterocarpus genus, whereas the Sandalwoods have their own (Santalum) genus.

@sound67
I live in South India. Here, there is no ban on cutting ebony. But Blood Rosewood is banned to cut. Many Tamilians were killed brutally and inhumanly by other state government for cutting blood rosewood. But they are just labourers. None of the person who smuggled them were even arrested. Here it is called as "செம்மரம் (/semmaram/ Red-sanders)" which translated to reddish tree. 
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/20-red-sanders-smugglers-shot-dead-in-chittoor-encounter/article7076614.ece

Jaques reproduction sets are supposed to look like the original antiques, not BE the original antiques.  No doubt the wood situation in 1849 England was not something that modern reproductions will duplicate.  The ebony is different, and the boxwood is different.  I think nit picking the genetic make up of the wood used is a little more OCD than I care to ponder.  

Does anyone know the correct name for the type(s) of ebony used for the early Jaques sets? On some pieces of some of my old Jaques sets I can see brown stripes in the dark pieces 

@IpswichMatt

Both types, i.e. diospyros ebenum from India and Ceylon and diospyros crassiflora from West Africa, which were the most common types of ebony used in Europe (and easily imported to the UK through the Empire's colonies), can have a brown or greyish grain. They have one significant difference in their appearance, though. Diospyros crassiflora, which tends to be slightly more greyish with only 10% of the logs having a pitch black heartwood, is a rather porous timber, with the pores being large and thus clearly visible. Diospyros ebenum on the other hand tends to be more dark brown and has almost no visible pores. The latter was therefore preferred and the main material for ebony furniture in the 16th to 19th century. It can be assumed in my view that it was therefore also the natural first choice for making polished chess pieces. But I remember seeing also antique early Jaques pieces made of ebony with rather large visible pores, which makes me wonder if African ebony was also used.

Check out the wood database website. It gives a much better impression when you actually see the pictures of both wood types. Here are the links:

https://www.wood-database.com/ceylon-ebony/

https://www.wood-database.com/gaboon-ebony/

With respect to ebony, I think it all comes down to conditioning. If Jacques had made the original Staunton set using striped ebony (still a very beautiful wood) that would be the de facto standard today.

 Lighter striped ebony can be dyed jet black.

Thanks EfimLG47. 

Anyone know why this box, for a Jaques library size set - but no pieces - went for so much? £147 for a damaged box - is this a rare label or something?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaques-amp-Sons-Antique-Wooden-Chess-Box-Casket-only-For-Repair-Staunton-Set-/154017957695?hash=item23dc2f873f%3Ag%3A1LcAAOSwpDNfGZiJ&nma=true&si=sEpLrF7letKDlAD%252BRkc79KJr51A%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

nothing rare about that one

Maybe someone has a set with no box and adding a box would increase the value of the overall package by more than £147? Only reason I can think of.

New Jaques reproduction set from Chess Bazaar. I like it a lot. What do you guys think?
https://www.chessbazaar.com/reproduced-1875-80-vintage-zukertort-staunton-weighted-chessmen-in-ebony-box-wood-with-king-side-stamping-3-5-king.html

😂😂😂

Those knights look like they are going to topple over at any minute. Nowhere close to Frank's old timeless reproduction.