Staunton pattern design

Where did the modern chess set icons come from? (AKA Staunton pattern).

I would think they're patterned after the symbols used in publications in the early 19th century to represent the pieces.  What is the oldest book known that uses the crown and coronet, Alan?

Hi Alan (alleenkatze)

Yes indeed, The earliest book we found which used the coronet symbol was 1820 by D.L. Ponziani. We referenced this in our seminal work on the subject. here :- http://www.chessspy.com/articles/Staunton%20Chess%20Set%20Design.pdf

As we said in the article, the normal shape of the queen finial was a ball (for most playing sets) making her look like a large pawn in many sets. This is quite appropriate as pawns are promoted most often to queens.

The other older chess pieces for the most part have looked much like the Staunton pattern pieces. Rooks as castles bishops with a miter and knights as horses heads king as royal crown it is only the queen as a coronet which is really changed.

Do not miss the end notes which are a page down after the close of the article.

Hi Ziryab, It was Nathaniel Cook (Sometimes spelt Cooke) who was Staunton's chess column editor at the ILN (Illustrated London News) who took out the design registration for the style, As far as we were able to ascertain Staunton was merely the hired celebrity and Jaques was chosen to manufacture. However all 3 men may have had some input. Much is made of Cook being John Jaques brother-in-law but Cook married into the family later.

Staunton was already unhappy with the non standard and variable styles of sets in use. We know this because he insisted on using his own set in Paris (Rather than the Regence club sets in use there) this was a large St George pattern set of 4'5" (Staunton was one of the founding members of the St George club in London) However the St George pattern sets have as little to recommend them as the Regence design. St G sets are chunky and the pieces can hide the pawns. Regence sets have pieces which resemble each other (pawns fools (bishops) and queens).

One unanswered point is why chess diagrams use a much earlier pawn style. This is puzzling as there was already a pawn looking just like a Staunton pawn in print in Ponziani's book (1820 as above). If I were asked to guess I would say it was for clarity of print reproduction but that is pure speculation.

With all due respect Teichmann70 this is not really the thread to post your pet theories about wood and the way it is processed. There are many different species that can be described as 'ebony,' that is to say dark in colour and heavier than water. I myself use African Blackwood for ebony repairs as it is the wood which most closely resembles the old sets. There are many species of wood which are called 'rosewood' being redish in colour and having (for the most part) a pleasant smell. There are several woods called boxwood. I personally only use Buxus sempervirens (European box) as that is what was used in most old English and French sets.

Yes indeed old sets do crack particularly on the ebony side  I have had hundreds or possibly even thousands of old (mostly Jaques) sets through my workshop over the past 30 years and apart from chips and lost pieces cracking of the bases (due in part to the inflexibly of lead) is the 3rd most common repair.

As you may know I work closely with Vik of chessbazar as I met him frequently in London over many years. He seems to me to be an honest man and respectful of the environment. The sets of his which I have are well made and non have cracked.

Extremely well researched and informative article on the origins of the Staunton style chessmen and Jaques design.  So many details packed into this very interesting essay on the topic.

I especially find the icons used in Poziani's book pleasing to the eye.  As you pointed out the pawn is spot on Staunton.  In keeping with the theme you mention regarding the introduction of the coronet and a ball atop the Queen, here's an illustration from the period (Sir John Tenniel) attesting to just this idea symbolic of promotion. 

Thanks to you and Milissa!

 Hi Alan,

Thank you Milissa is also pleased she took a raw idea and turned it into the definitive work on the subject.

Thank you for the pic of Tenniel's. I did look at most of the chess sets used by the (over 100) illustrators of the Alice books Tenniel's looks like a St George a later illustrator used an Indian set as his inspiration. I speculate that some at least of the illustrators used sets they actually owned. This will eventually be included in our book I think, along with a lot of other stories about chess set design and famous people who owned them etc.

If you are interested to see some of the Alice research contact me directly by email through the chessspy website. It is in a fairly crude form ATM but promises to make an interesting chapter.

There will be chapters on Napoleon (sacked pawns with little regard) and the Danko sisters Designers of the Reds V Whites set (AKA Capitalists v Communists) Who died of starvation in the siege of Leningrad in 1941 (from memory)

Other chapters other ideas.

It sounds like you're both working on what should be interesting reading and I'd certainly like to see a bit more, and will drop you a line.

I'd put something like this on the level equal with Marilyn Yalom's "Birth of a Chess Queen" history as these sorts of books are very intriguing reads.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Alan, Well we hope so. So many books are either chess play oriented or specific to the origin of the designs of sets collected from all over the world. We think there is a place for a book which looks at the interaction between players (or makers or owners) and sets. There are a lot of good stories, some are easier to track down than others. Take the painting by Sofonisba Anguissola of her sisters playing chess. The set is unlike any other I have seen particularly the acorn rooks. Clearly it is a family set. What became of it?

I have been thinking lately about the similarity of some of the finials used in furniture making and the Staunton chess pawn. I have a couple of antique spinning wheels here in the shop which have very pawn like shapes. Could it be that we are missing a fairly obvious link between shapes which were in common use as finials on items such as clocks and chairs and so on and those adopted for the Staunton pattern chess pieces?

My thinking goes like this.

Because Nat Cook was a printer and because the book symbol icons were already established and known, I assumed that Cook adopted these icons for his new (then) chess design. All fair enough yes?

However where did the book icons come from? Where they designed by a chess book publisher who also knew something about furniture design?

More later....

Exactly so Alan.  Some years ago, a local gaming store closed and among other things offered was a large baluster that doubled as a pawn.  It has since been a traveling trophy for a group of friends to fight over.

That is certainly big. Do I also see a knight as a bookend?

Alan, the pawn stands about 18" high with a 7" diameter base and my wife found the Knight|Rook set of bookends at Barnes & Noble.  As you pointed out earlier, the shapes and designs of chessmen and related influences would make for a very interesting book.  I hope you and Milissa are still working on this.