I found a nice and yet very unusual example of a French Régence Chess Set, which was supposedly made in the mid 19th century. The Régence design is named after the famous Café de la Régence, the center of chess in ancient Paris. The café was founded in 1681 as one of the first coffee houses in Paris under the name Café de la Place du Palais-Royal. It was located between the Rue Saint-Honoré and the Place du Palais-Royal. It was renamed Café de la Régence in 1715 at the earliest, as the new name referred to the era of the regency (La Régence), which lasted from 1715 to 1723, when the Duke of Orléans ruled over the young king Louis XV, who was still a minor. The Cafe de la Regence attracted players like Voltaire, Rousseau, Stamma and Philidor, Ben Franklin, Robespierre, Napoleon, Harrwitz, and Morphy.

The set is unusual in various regards. The kings are designed in the common Régence style with a tulip crown, but are with a size of 3.5" smaller than the Queens, which stand 3.75". The Bishops are shown with mitres rather than the abstract form resembling the Queen in the typical Régence design. The Knights with glass eyes are very chunky, massive horses' heads. Very impressive and extremely nice to play with. The Rooks as turrets. In the classic Régence design the pieces usually have urn shaped bases on round pedestals, which are also missing here. All in all a very special and impressive set.