Weighted Staunton Chess Set with "Carton-Pierre" Box
Jaques London, late 19th century
King is 9.9 cm and Pawn 7.3 cm high
Box is 22 x 16 x 10.5 cm

Howard Staunton, English chess champion from 1843 to 1852, gave his name to the chess figures designed by Nathaniel Cooke in 1835, which were subsequently made in London by the company John Jaques.

Jaques London retained the right to the production of the figures until WW2. The house recorded high profits through its copyright and the internationally accepted standardization of the Staunton figures, which were most widely distributed both in championships and in private circles.

The figures are distinguished by certain features in their function: a crown with cross for the King, a nobility crown for the Queen, an open Bishop's mitre hat, a horse head for the Knight, a tower with battlements and shooting ranges as the Rook, and a sphere on a pedestal as the Pawn.

"Carton Pierre" box is designed by Joseph Williams. The process is one incorporating papier-mache with calcium carbonate and advanced gluing techniques, layering the paper in a manner which allows for raised portions and texture. The result is a strong and resilient finish.

Provenance: From the celebrated Chess Set Collection of Astrid & Dr. Halvor Jaeger

Exhibited: Munich, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde,1988

Curators: Ursula Siebert, Jean-Loup Rousselot

Literature/Illustrated:
Schachspiele Wandel Im Laufe Der Kunst Und Kulturgeschichte (Chess: Art History and Culture),
Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde Munchen, 1988, page 98, plates 118 and 119.

Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde (founded 1862) is now the Museum Funf Kontinente (Five Continents Museum, Munich, Germany).

Select chess volume references for this set: Sigrid Barten, Figuren vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart,
1982 (illustrated); John Jaques & Son, Jaques Games, 1927;
Michael Mark, British Chess Sets - A Catalog of British Playing Sets 1700-1950, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1986

Works from the Jaeger art collection have been exhibited at many museums and art spaces, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Baltimore Museum of Art, Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, Ontario College of Art and Design, UCLA's Fowler in Los Angeles, University of Cologne galleries, and the Museum Funf Kontinente in Munich.