Antique chess sets - where to start?

Hello everyone.

I currently have a small collection of chess sets, mostly theme sets plus some Italfama, Franklin Mint, Noble Collection etc. I want to start buying some Antique chess sets. Where should I start? How to learn to evaluate a set? I have seen some antique sets on ebay for couple hundred bucks, at the same time Frank Camaratta sells antique sets starting from $500 all the way to few thousands.

So what makes one set more expensive than another? How to know what the set is really worth?

Thank you everyone in advance.

Here's a thread on antique dealers: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/antique-dealers

Depending upon your liking you can start with the following options.

1. Pre staunton chess set: Since real antique chess sets are costly, you may like to buy reproduced. You may like to check Holger's website which shares some great antique chess sets collection(some for sale) as well.

2. Staunton chess sets: Some sets are available on Frank camaratta website. For reproductions, check House of Staunton or chessbazaar. The chess store also sell some limited reproductions.

3. Soviet Chess sets: Chessbazaar is the leader here. However, some Ukrainian sellers do sell a great quality russian reproductions/originals on etsy.com and ebay.com.

You can also join Chess Collector facebook group for inspiration & knowledge sharing/gathering.

Happy chess collection!

To answer you question with respect to the price, the rarity, design, material decides the chessmen price. For example, a rare and original 1849 goes for around $10grands on eBay auction a couple of years back. Definitely 1849 is worth collection. Infact, there are many Jaques collectors than the Soviet or European.

Thank you for your responses.

So lets take an example from Frank site:

This Jaques of London is $595, and this Calvert is $1,295. They look very similar to me.

This Vizagapatam is $2,995 but this Type I Morphy Barleycorn is only $595? They look pretty similar style to me.

I'm sure those questions look very naive to the experts, so I apologize in advance.

@manfred_scriba_ms07 Thanks for mentioning my website. I am glad to hear that it may serve as an inspiration to collect!

@kimk10 It really depends on what you are looking for. If you are only into Jaques Staunton sets, starting a collection may become costly, as @manfred_scriba_ms07 already pointed out. But in my honest opinion there are a lot of original antiques out there that are affordable. I would like to raise a few points in this context:

1. "Antiques" is not a fixed term. I would include vintage sets as well. Of course it makes a difference whether a set was produced of a valuable material in the early 19th century or if it was made in larger numbers in the 1950's. But the one is not necessarily more collectible than the other. My advice is to focus on certain criteria. Try to find out for yourself in what you are interested or for what you could at best even develop a real passion. Pick a certain era or a certain material or a certain provenance as a starting point. There is a lot of diversity in chess collecting and accordingly there is too much to collect, so focussing sooner rather than later is a good thing.

2. What makes one set more expensive than the other? There are quite a few factors determining value.

• Age - age is usually a factor, because the likelihood that a set in good condition survived until today decreases significantly over time
• Condition - a set in pristine condition will be more valuable than a set with damages or even missing pieces
• Material - some materials are significantly more valuable than others, e.g. a set made of ivory will usually (not necessarily, though) be more valuable than a set made of bone and rare hardwood will be more valuable than pine wood
• Rarity - a set which was either produced in small numbers or of which only few specimen survived will be more valuable than a mass produced set
• Design - some collectors look for playbility of their sets in addition to other factors, so Staunton designs are often more sought after than non-Stanton designs
• Maker - chess sets made by reputable makers are more valuable, in particular when they bear the maker's mark. You will pay significantly more for a "Rolls Royce" chess set (e.g. Jaques) than a more common one.

3. How to know what the set is really worth? - First of all, there is no real way of knowing what a set is worth. I depends a lot on the circumstances of the sale. A set may be easily available in one part of the world, but may be rather rare in another one. This will have an influence on the price. I saw the same type of set in more or less comparable condition sell for 500£ in one auction and for 5,000£ in another one. And even experienced collectors will struggle putting a price tag to a particular set. The more experience you have, the easier it will get to determine a likely price range for a set, but that really is a question of experience. Speaking of which, the only advice I can give to gather experience is to try to learn as much as you can about particular sets. Scan through the various websites and marketplaces on which antique and vintage chess sets are offered and eventually you will get a feeling whether a certain chess set is fair priced or overpriced. Follow the discussion between other collectors! A good starting point, besides this forum, are the various facebook groups on chess collecting (one of which I am administering myself - https://www.facebook.com/groups/171812150040374). There are a lot of active collectors out there who have a great knowledge of chess sets. Check their websites frequently! Most of them provide additional information on their sets. However, do not take everything for granted. Even the greatest collectors make mistakes.

Apart from that it is really trial and error. I personally started collecting rather wildly, i.e. I bought what I liked best and made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. In particular, I failed at bargaining fair prices, because I lacked the experience. From today's perspective, I paid too much for some of my early sets. But over time I gathered more experience and found some real bargains.

The Jaques Set is a very good one, but the Calvert is significantly older and rarer in my view. Also, a Calvert set with a king size of 4.4" is extremely rare, hence the higher price.

The Vizagatapam set and the Barleycorn set are not even remotely comparable. The Barleycorn set is a rather common one. You will find it in a lot of auctions, usually for prices much lower. In fact, if you wanted to spend 595 US$ the Jaques set is definitely the much better option, as I think it is definitely more valuable than the Barleycorn set. Scan ebay for Barleycorn sets and you will find this type of set for prices starting at 100-200 US$ (it is actually a good starting point for an antique collection!). However, the Barleycorn set is made of bovine bone, whereas the Vizagatapam set dates to the early 19th century, is made of elephant ivory and has an impressive king size of 5.5". Further, the Barleycorn set is very simply turned, while the production of the Vizagatapam set required much more skill. Just take a look at all the ornamental carvings, which were done without mechanical assistance, but with simple lathes and hand tools.

Holger, thank you so much for the detailed response!

When I saw here the pictures of your closets where you keep you collection, I said WOW!! But then I found your website with all the closeups of the sets and the descriptions.. this was a triple WOW!!!! A real inspiration!

Yes, I actually joined your Facebook group few days ago and follow it with great interest. I think at this point I should probably focus on what I like and not care much about age, rarity or materials. Will be just looking at good designs and good conditions.

You mentioned ebay - what if I see on ebay something I like? How would I know what it's really worth? For example, this Burmese antique chess set 19 century is $640. I like it, but is it a good value? Maybe I can buy something similar for half price? When someone is selling a set and claims that it's from 19th century, how do I know this is really the case?

Not a problem, Kim. Taking into account that the Burmese set does have some flaws (probably replaced knight, different base on one pawn and definitely some glue traces on the same) the price seems to be on the upper end, but still ok. I don't think that the material description is correct. I am not aware that sets in the Burmese pattern were made of bone, so most likely this is ivory. I do have a comparable set in my collection. Unlike in other sets the ivory on these ones is rather crude and not polished, therefore it sometimes is mistaken to be bone. Knowing if something really is of the age claimed by the seller is often difficult. Take the Burmese set for example. It is from mid 19th century, but couldn't it have been made in the 20th century? The answer is yes, it could, but it is very unlikely. These sets were carved in Canton in the first half of the 19th century. Making them is obviously a very difficult task. Sets with intricate carvings are sometimes reproduced today using Camel bone. But today the value of work is much higher than it was 150 years ago. Even if you were using cheap work staff, like Chinese or Indian craftsmen, reproducing a set like this today would cost you in the thousands. Therefore it is very unlikely that someone would sell a set like this for as low as this one is priced and if he did, it would be a good deal.

What EfimLG74 is saying is all good stuff, but I doubt it's the full story with the Burmese set. Maybe I shouldn't say this but most of the time it seems more likely to me such sets are purposely listed as bovine bone in order to get around eBay restrictions which prohibit the sale of ivory. 

So here are 2 Burmese from Hogler collection:

https://www.chess-collection.de/newpage6

https://www.chess-collection.de/newpagefd979f8d 

How they compare to each other and to the set on ebay? Would you consider a set on ebay a good value?

@tmkroll I did not think of that, but I am sure that you are right!

The second one is comparable to the one you mentioned, the first one is of higher value.

What makes it higher value?

A number of factors: larger size (4.5" vs. 3.5"), finer carving, better condition, higher quality material (polished ivory in the first one), unusual stain (green is not as common as red), unusual king finial (crosses are rather rare on these sets) etc. etc.

Got it, thank you!

Is it legal to import ivory to Canada? What if a set is listed as bone but is really ivory?

Ivory trade is banned all over the world!

@EfimLG47 you're an inspiration, Holger!

But I see ivory sets for sale all the time. Here are some examples:

Calvert Type II English Playing Chess Set

 The Mammoth Ivory Collector Series Luxury Chess Set - Mammoth ivory is still legal I guess?

And sets produced in 19th century are also legal, aren't they?

The trade with antique ivory is still allowed in many parts of the world including Europe. Antiques, i.e. ivory products which were produced or assembled before 1 June 1947 can be traded without restrictions within the EU. If you want to export them, you need to have a CITES export licence. The same applies with certain limitations to pre-convention material, i.e. ivory and ivory products which came into possession between 1 June 1947 and 26 February 1976, but the authorities can demand further documents proving the age. In the US and soon the UK, however, even the trade with antique ivory artefacts is or will soon be banned. The situation in the US is depending very much on where you are located. The import and export to and from the US is banned in general, but the trade within the individual Federal states is depending on the respective regulations. Some states, such as New Jersey, are very strict and not even the passing of ivory to heirs is legal (as far as I know), whereas other states like Texas, Florida etc. still allow both the trade and the possession of ivory. Australia, for example, still allows the trade and possession of ivory and I believe also the import. So, it is really depending very much on the individual situation and the legislation in the place where you live. I do not know the regulations in Canada, unfortunately. But mammoth ivory, i.e. fossil ivory, should still be legal in most parts of the world including the US (even though I read that it might be as well covered by the expected UK ivory ban).