A large wooden chess set with a king height of ca. 10 cm, which was made in England in the 19th century. Similar sets, like this one from the Rochford collection, were dated to mid-19th century. They still have the globe shaped head of the queens typical for earlier English sets. The queen in this set is already having a coronet, which makes me believe that this set may be of slightly later make.

The quality of turning and in particular of the knights heads' carving is superior and probably suggests that the set was made by one of the renowned Fleet Street makers in London. Apart from a tiny damage on the white king's cross, the set is, despite its age, in perfect, almost pristine condition. The pieces are made of boxwood and rosewood. The boxwood has developed a nice patina and the rosewood is showing a beautiful wood grain. Stylistically, the set is somewhere in between the St. George pattern and the so called Dublin pattern. While it has features also found in St. George sets, I would nevertheless count it among the Dublin sets. Their main characteristic are the bulbous, baluster shaped bodies and these also seem to be the dominating design feature in this set.

Not an exact match, but still working from an aesthetic point of view, the chess set is shown on a late 19th century Killarney board box made of yew wood and certified as an antique item by the British Antique Dealers Association.