Throughout Chess history, nothing has made such an impact on the design of chessmen as the introduction of the English Staunton Chess pieces. The Staunton Pattern chessmen were first offered to the public for sale by Jaques of London in the Fall of 1849 and quickly became the standard for serious tournament competition. The original Staunton design was registered to Nathaniel Cook in the Spring of 1849. The design bears the name of the self-proclaimed world champion and English Shakespearean scholar Howard Staunton, who approved the new design and promoted it in his London Illustrated News chess column. We are pleased to offer the new, 4.4" King, 1850 Limited Edition Staunton chessmen.

These chessmen are a reintroduction of a design produced by the Jaques firm between 1850 and 1851. The form, board presence and exquisite craftsmanship of these magnificent chessmen have been recaptured and are offered to you on a very limited basis.

Only 250 of these sets will be produced!

The pieces are crafted from premium Boxwood and jet-black Ebony. The full Tournament-size King stands 4.0" tall with a 1.875"diameter base. Each piece is very heavily weighted and is fitted with handmade English leather cushions with beautiful gold-blocked Jaques branding. The white King is marked "Jaques London" and the King's Rook and King's Knight bear the mark of a crown on their summits. The visual impact of each piece is striking, combining both robustness and grace. From graceful angular Bishop's headpiece with its distinctive wide open miter cut to the exquisite hand-crafted two-piece Knight taken straight from the visages of those magnificent steeds gracing the Parthenon, this is one of the Firm's finest creations.

Even the King's Formée cross finial is accurately detailed and can be easily removed for later replacement should it become the victim some unfortunate accident.

This Limited Edition set comes housed in a fine English-made case with fitted trays as well as a lock and key. The case is lined in the finest green English Woolen baize (billiard cloth) and bears a numbered replica of the original "Jaques Staunton Chessmen" manufacturer's label bearing an original John and Christopher Jaques signature and a facsimile of Howard Staunton's signature. Each set of these heirloom quality chessmen also ships standard with four Queens. Relive a part of chess history.

These chessmen ship with a beautiful hand-crafted wooden chessboard especially made for this set (shown above).

Note: All Jaques of London Chessmen are shipped directly from England and may take longer than normal for delivery.