Your Favorite Knight(s)

I really like the simple yet effective carving of these Chavet knights. These are from a small analysis set I picked up in Paris almost 20 years ago.

Really into these guys right now  - from an American made staunton set from around 1900 ( I think!) 

Great posts everyone; really enjoying this thread!

I see that. There's more information here: 
The American Chess Company began advertising chess sets in American Chess Magazine in 1897. Some of the advertisements contained illustrations of the sets, showing their distinctively charming “sawtooth” mane knights. It is unknown whether the American Chess Company manufactured the sets itself, or whether it simply served as a distributor. However, some of the sets were used by some of the top players of the era in important competitions. Frank Marshall (U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, 1986) and Emanuel Lasker (World Chess Hall of Fame, 2001) used an American Chess Company set in their 1907 World Chess Championship match. A set like this one, with different knights, was used during the 1904 Cambridge Springs International Chess Congress, which was won by Frank Marshall.

My set has 3.25" kings, but is missing a pawn. I need to get a replica made. 

Thought it would make an excellent addition for collectors who are in the banking & finance arena.

The problem with most character-based themed sets (civil war, Star Wars, etc,). is the complete abandonment of traditional styling, often making it difficult for those not familiar with that particular set to easily identify the individual pieces. But, by only changing the character of the knight from a horse to a bull or a bear, the clarity of traditional styling is not lost, and the set can take on added dimensions of struggle and conflict, like the continual clash of market forces associated with the symbols in this set. In a sense, you get the benefit of a themed set without sacrificing the clarity and tradition of the classic design.

Especially if your meeting with clients in your office - it adds a real touch of class!

Leningrad Knight along with the Zagreb Knight. Dragon Head Knight from the Bohemia set. 1972 Fischer Spassky Championship set, Knight. Drueke Players Choice set, Knight.

The newest entry, The Knights from the Ulbrich set by the Chess Empire.

Interesting/nice design, a bit too tall , though......

I like the height of the knight it displays the Crinet of the steed as part of the Medival armor that the knight's steed wore going into battle. A nice classy aesthetic of this knight design. 

@ChrisIdaho mentioned the Centurion pieces from HoS earlier but was unable to post a photo. I agree the knights are superb. Here are the knights from my Boxwood and Red Sandalwood Centurion pieces from HoS.

It's been suggested that the knights in the original Staunton set were patterned after the Elgin marbles in the British Museum.

If that's the case, then as far as contemporary sets go, you couldn't get any closer to the ideal than the Camaratta Signature Knight from the House of Staunton. An absolute classic, double mane and all.

Another worthy effort are the Royal knights from The Chess Piece. Very attractively done.

And maybe the classiest and most animated knight of them all is the mid-19th century Leuchars knight in ivory. Just stunning. So much so, I've yet to see anyone copy it. Here's hoping somebody tries.

Not exactly a knight you can knock out in 10 or 15 minutes with a power tool.

@theendgame3, Thanks. Yes, the Red Sandalwood is a very rich color. The photo doesn't do it justice as it looks different depending on the light.

@MCH818, I agree, the Collector's series is a favorite of mine as well. I have the plastic version with the 4" king. I got it while Frank C was still at HoS and before (from what I hear in other threads) poorer quality plastics became the norm. It's heavy, solid and the best plastic set to play with - and the knights are outstanding. 

@loubalch - The Leuchars ivory knight is extraordinary!

The Knights from Staunton Castles' "Heritage Series" are stunning as well!

Wow. That Leuchars knight is superb. And very different from the early overstamped Jaques knights. Did Leuchars have sets manufactured separately from the relabeled Jaques?

 Best image of Cultural appropriation ?

The British Museum argues that the sculptures in their collection should remain in London because there's nowhere to house them in Greece and that the Greek authorities can't look after them .

Just to add & how insulting for Greece !

Audioq,

The following is a write up from the World Chess Hall of Fame website:

"The earliest advertisements for the new Staunton chessmen have the following statement: “The Nobility and Gentry are respectfully informed that these new and elegant CHESS-MEN are now obtainable of W. Leuchars, 28. PICADILLY …” The earliest Jaques chessmen were sold through Leuchars and are quite valuable and have unique features. The Jaques London mark on the bases of both the wooden and the Ivory sets were over-stamped “Leuchars.” In the case of the ivory sets, the Jaques London mark is actually scratched out and over stamped. In addition, a Leuchars green sticker was affixed to the underside of the white king’s base. Leuchars ivory sets were sold only in Carton-Pierre caskets and only in the 8.9 cm king. The label on the bottom of the casket originally bore a green Leuchars sticker. Leuchars ivory sets also featured a very unique knight design which was clearly distinguishable from the more normal Jaques knight. Leuchars only offered boxwood and ebony sets in the 8.9” king. Unlike Jaques, Leuchars also offered lead-weighting in the smaller boxwood and ebony sets sold between 1849 and 1852. Although somewhat difficult to see, the Jaques London mark on the upper bevel of the king’s base is over-stamped Leuchars."

Here are some pics of the entire ivory set.