Old chess set bought

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GretuskaLT

I bought this antique chess set and I'm trying to figure out where it is from/how much it costs/how old it is etc.

The guy who sold me this said that one color (don't really know which one) of the figurines are out of teak wood. I'm not an expert but if I were to guess, this set is at least 50 years old (seeing that it looks so worn out). I can't even imagine how much time was spent while making this and how much it really costs - every single figure and the table are clearly hand carved (I can tell by the differences between each figure and the imperfections on the board)!

I know it's hard to say anything by just looking at the pictures and I should take it to a professional, but I want to get some info before I do so.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.


http://i.imgur.com/5mVCoBH.png

http://i.imgur.com/XVFmNIj.png

http://i.imgur.com/5ChzibV.png

http://i.imgur.com/SQ1OIsk.png


One figure is missing from the set - the lighter one below.

http://i.imgur.com/r0igIQo.png


 

http://i.imgur.com/ACRii2Q.png

http://i.imgur.com/f0gmHNG.png

http://i.imgur.com/LTRQccZ.png

http://i.imgur.com/WIddwGB.png

http://i.imgur.com/uUjmugS.png

http://i.imgur.com/CTBkKSh.png

tmkroll

That's a pretty typical Balinese set, but looks like a good one. They still make them today so it's difficult to date. 20th century certainly. An almost identical set in another collection is dated 1970s, which seems like a reasonable guess. 

GretuskaLT

I see. Thanks for the help!

Any idea how much I could sell it for? If I were to sell it right now, without restoration? It's a real shame one figure is missing though...

tmkroll

That's a really tough question. I purposely avoided trying to answer it the first time around. You can get "this set" new with pretty good carving for under $300, bad carving for closer to $100, I don't know about used on eBay or something or actually going to Bahi and buying direct which might get an even better price. Your set is older than that and not the same as the new ones. Good older versions of this set are in some of the best collections in the world and sometimes seen at high end chess auctions though I don't remember what any sold for; I wasn't paying attention to those... particularly with the missing piece it's going to be hard to sell. I think it's a difficult set to sell anyway, it's so unique, not to everyone's taste etc... Sorry I can't help you more than that. Good luck.

Dodger111

Missing piece, sort of crummy shape, it's probably worth very little. If anything someone might want it for the table, not the pieces.

New ones with an ornate table included go for 250-300.

http://chess-sets-games.novica.com/chess-sets/bali-and-java/