Jaques Drop-jaw Staunton tournament set c1860

A lovely example of an early unweighted Jaques Staunton "Anderssen drop jaw", circa 1859-1861 from the label.

All felts intact, with minimal wear - through the pieces have acquired quite a patina from handling.

The label is rather nice, only appearing for a couple of years in this format.  A retailer's label is stuck over Jaques' name (which would have likely read "Jaques and Son, London" following Jaque's son joining the company in mid 1859). The retailer, Charles Henry, ran the "Civet Cat" general fancy goods store in Manchester.  "Civet Cat" appears to have been a small chain of stores across the UK.