Jaques Ivory Staunton, entered number 3211, c1852

An exquisite very early ivory library Jaques Staunton set, from circa 1852, with Carton Pierre casket and Leuchars board, very kindly on loan to my collection.

The knights are executed with the very highest craftmanship, the turning on the set is outstanding, and the bishops are amongst the most elegant you will ever find in a Staunton set.

The pieces are housed in their original Carton Pierre casket, with red label  "entered number 3211" to the underside.  The Carton Pierre casket is the same size as those which accompanied the larger chess sets, though with a false bottom (as is correct and original) to bring the interior more to scale with the pieces - this can be observed in the photograph of the casket with the two kings.  The majority of the pieces still retain their original Victorian registration lozenges (despite the best efforts of a previous owner to scrub them off, so I am told) - a testament to the good glue Jaques must have used. And, to top it off, the whole kit and caboodle also has an extremely rare green, early edition of  "The Chess-Player's Text Book" (c1856) by H Staunton, which was later replaced by the "ABC of Chess by a Lady".

Altogether the set, casket and board take up an entire shelf in my real-life cabinet, and have displaced several wonderful sets into storage. However, this is a cuckoo, shall we say, which I am much more than privileged to host.