Where can I get Soviet style chess pieces like these

Here is a similar one at Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/703032439/vintage-soviet-tournament-chess-set-big?ref=shop_home_active_12

UpcountryRain thanks for the link - don't know how I missed this supplier on Etsy - it might have something to do with me operating in two languages as an English speaker here in Germany :-)

cgrau, thanks for posting all those pictures! I am a total novice in terms of my historical knowledge of chess sets in general, and Russian sets in particular, but, the clear similarities notwithstanding, stylistically speaking this seems to belong to a slightly different series - the bases are squarer, the stems or bodies are slimmer, and the queen has that extra flat base on which its finial sits above the crown. I have seen a few sets of this type. They have all had a longer thin finial for the king (mini baseball bat shape). It is a beautiful set in its own right - of that there is no doubt!

As an artist, I find these morphological variations, particularly among Russian sets, fascinating. The more such sets I look at the more I am convinced that they are heavily inspired by organic shapes and plant forms - as opposed to the anthropomorphic leanings of western, Staunton sets. Western sets combine architecture (the classical column) with human forms/symbols, and Russian combines architecture with organic form. 

i think you're after a 1961 soviet baku set. i haven't seen a decent original and i suspect a good one would be very expensive. this is just a link to a repro to show the style.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/323639977498?chn=ps

Grizmors - yes that is the set I screenshot to show what I am looking for. The problem with that set is that the knights are made from plastic. 

The same supplier sent me link to another set of exact same type but from the 50's. I does show its age, but I decided this morning to put the matter to rest and just buy it. I might need to retouch it up a bit. Will post photos once I have received it.

Thank you everyone for your input. (martinchess1 - not it is not the Baku set). It is the same style as Gizmors 2nd  link. The seller does not know the name of that style - maybe someone else here does - not quite the "cherry on the top" you would like the finial of such sets to be ... :-)

I find the 1st link of Gizmors also gorgeous, but it is not exactly the same (king's head is different, for example), and the finials are plastic - which I still do not quite understand. I find that bright white such an eyesore ... 

Thanks to everyone, again. 

Good luck with your quest. I find your professional observations fascinating! 

A couple things about Soviet sets. The popularity of chess there and the relatively low levels of disposable meant that many, many sets were produced, using designs that were simple to produce. There were many producers, and their takes on particular styles predictably varied. As you have noted, Soviet sets had a number of characteristic design elements, and producers liberally borrowed design elements from one style and incorporated them into others. 

Here, for example, is a Soviet travel set with very bulbous bases.

Here are two bulbous-based GM-sized kings flanking a Chess Bazaar reproduction.

Here is a bulbous-based GM-sized set.

This is the Baku '61 set mentioned above. (I used the moniker to denote the set used in the 1961 Soviet Championship held in Baku, and it has stuck.) It's a beautiful set, but not what you're looking for. You mention Soviet designs taking inspiration from organic and plant forms. I see a lot of inspiration from space age technology in sets of the fifties, sixties, and seventies.

And to stop beating a dead horse (maybe an odd metaphor in the wake of the Derby scandal), in the off chance that you haven't seen Arlindo Vieira's magnificent video on Soviet chess sets, here is a link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXTwxG4N62Y

cgrau, there is always going to be a mixing of styles and motifs, a borrowing here and a borrowing there, when things get mass produced. Like with Staunton based sets, manufacturers have a very narrow operating space to work in : they want their products to stand out as "new" to attract interest but still have to operate within given conventions and norms otherwise their sets wouldn't be bought at all. 

What is interesting about the Russian sets, at least as I see it, is that "utility" does not always seem to override design considerations. No manufacturer with cutting down costs and simple production procedure at heart would produce such delicate sets, like the "Latvian" set Tal was so fond of. 

The plastic knights and plastic finials are certainly a sign of wanting to make the sets affordable to general public - but that in itself is a proof that design considerations came before utility, because the design remained - production methods changed! To insist on a certain design, to the point that one is ready to introduce plastic to maintain the design under all costs, proves something!

Last point regarding influences, one should surely also consider modern design trends in Russia. I see strong influences of Russian Constructivism and the communal design aesthetic it gave rise to - there is something reductive and very modern about just about all the Soviet sets I have seen. Look at the set below, a great example of that.

cgrau, thanks for the good wishes, am really looking forward to receiving it.

It is really not a major dispute here, but let me say that despite your point about degradation of quality in the interests of mass production, I still find the original designs strikingly plant like, with aesthetic considerations overriding practical concerns. Looking at photos of some of the originals, it seems apparent that the thinner the stems of the pawns, bishops, kings and queens, and the thinner and wider their collars, the larger and pointier the king's (teardrop) finial, the longer and thinner the tubular end of the bishops,  in short, the more delicate and fragile they look, the more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing they are. Not the ideal pieces for blitz by any means. I wonder how many collars got chipped, king's finials and bishop's tops blunted, (when not totally broken off - like some of the sets you own! :-). How many kids were warned to be careful not to drop those fragile pieces on the floor?

Anyway, it's fine if we see it a bit differently - we both agree that it is a very beautiful set, and so did Tal himself, who, with his wonderful sense of humour (I hope you have all read his autobiography - it is the best chess book I have read!), must have appreciated the whimsical contrasts of say the bulky knight vs the dainty bishops, and the funny thought that the most powerful piece, the king, had, in this set, a double fear: of being mated as well as losing his finial with a plod to the floor!

the clock and set are both fantastic.

Utic, we are largely in agreement. I really appreciate your point of view and being able to discuss such matters with someone as knowledgeable as you.

Thank you for the polite compliment but knowledgeable I am certainly not! 

Without over-belabouring the point, look at this beautiful chess set for sale: https://www.etsy.com/listing/615700506/soviet-chess-set-vintage-chess-set?ref=hp_rv-3 - a gem design-wise. It is absolutely absurd to have such tasteful and delicate woodturning capped with plastic finials! Is the plastic used to make the finials less damageable or to cut down production costs? Surely wooden finials would have been cheaper and easier for such a woodturner? (I ask this out of genuine incredulity - not as if I know the answer here).

I can't actually answer your question but have you considered plastic was not always looked down upon as a cheap material. A lot of particularly Soviet plastic sets are quite high quality. I'm not sure if this was the thought at the time or not but you might look at it as you would a set with bone finials or ivory, only it's the new thing, modern. Ornamental finials made from plastic not necessarily as a bad characteristic and perhaps even as a selling point at the time the set was made.

Grizmors where did you find #44?