A magnificent 19th century wooden bust chess set. With the exception of the rooks, all pieces are on circular bases delicately decorated with leaf ornaments. The origin of the set is not quite clear. I bought the set from a seller in St. Petersburg / Russia, but it is unlikely that the pieces are of Russian origin. It was suggested that this is a set made in South Germany, as both the original compartmented carton box and the type of the rooks with a pavilion style top are typical of that region. Also, the type of ornamented cup on top of the knights' base, from which the horse head protrudes, is in similar fashion found in a pattern book titled "Musterblätter moderner Drechslerarbeiten", which was published by A. & M. Graef in Weimar / Germany in 1889. I found reference to a number of single pieces in the catalogue of Bonhams auction of May 13th, 2008, lot 183, but it is the first time I see a full set. While similar in style, the pieces auctioned by Bonhams seem to be slightly less delicately carved. According to the Bonhams description, pearwood was used for the pieces. The king size is 9.3 cm. All pieces are moderately weighted.

The pieces are shown on a likewise rare and very large and heavy 19th century wooden board box.