Colour of British Boxwood...I Like it

I always new British Boxwood was yellowish vs Indian Boxwood which is a light tan. I thought British Boxwood could no longer be sourced. The Jaques sets started out with British Boxwood. If one would make an 1849 or later Jaques set out of this wood I feel it would not need to be antiqued. Many think that yellowish look is all patina but it started out with a very much darker boxwood to begin with that almost looks antique. 

An English Boxwood set

You can see the difference in the colour of Boxwood. I feel any vendor making a more expensive set sourced from British Boxwood would have a winner. Just my opinion. Need not be antiqued as it already has somewhat of that look everybody trie to emulate. 

I am by far not a connoisseur of antique chess sets but I think this wood could go over in a huge way to fans of high-quality sets. Since I saw this less expensive one for sale I wondered why couldn't a medium range set be made in this colour?

Besides the early Jaques sets the 1904 CS came to mind as those original pieces were yellowish and that is NOT the patina as I saw one up close that was stored away for more than 100 years without (more than likely) even seeing the light of day. The set I saw looked like it was made last week but was an original from 1904. 

I’m not an expert in wood species by any means but for what its worth...

Sets made in Europe were turned and carved from European Boxwood (Buxus Sempervirens) while Indian sets are made from a similar but different Indian boxwood (can’t think of the name right now). Buxus was readily available in England, France and other european countries. Notably Turkish buxus was much prized and may have been used in the production of some antique sets (not sure of this mind you)

I have purchased and used buxus in a few turning projects and it is not yellow it is in fact quite similar to the Indian boxwood when new. The two do seem to age differently, however, with buxus taking on a more yellowish hue and Indian boxwood turning a bit more tan coloured.

The proof that it is wear and exposure to the environment that gives buxus its patina can be seen in variations of colour you see in antique sets, some have that yellow tint, some a more honeyed look and some a distinctive “toffee” colour, yet they can all come from the same period.

Two other factors that need to be taken into consideration is - The finish applied. This was probably shellac back in the day (which may give a tint to the wood and some kind of polishing compound now. The second item, which I haven’t seen mentioned, is the fact that these very old sets were probably subjected to years of tobacco smoke wafting across the board. Maybe you should take up smoking to recreate this patina, with the added benefit that your teeth will probably take on the same hue 😀

With regard to the linked set. Are you sure this is a set made from buxus? It looks like an Indian made set which would probably be made from Indian boxwood. Could “English” just refer to the style of set? I could be wrong.

very good

The description in the link does state British Boxwood & Ebonised in the title. Maybe Carl, the owner of the site, can chime in on British Boxwood used in this set and does it make a difference in the colour of the set without altering through stain and shellac. 

Not the toffee color on some vintage Jaques sets, but definitely an aged patina on these.

Mick D's

Steve E's

Both beautiful condition, but certainly not made yesterday and aged in similar fashion.  Nothing to indicate the origin of the wood used.  Royals from my collection showing different shades of brown and one (rightmost) definitely isn't boxwood.

Steve's were stored away, I m sure out of the light of day (probably not used since the Tournament). They have less wear than a new set used for one month. It is my opinion that Steve's 1904 CS set looked 90% like that when made.  Did the atmosphere turn them a darker color over the 116 years, probably, but they started out yellowish IMHO.  

And for me, not the topic here but, I rather have the 1904 CS set that Steve got than an 1849 Jaques. That's just me.  But the CS 1904 is so scarce. 

Audioq makes some excellent points. I am not an expert on wood by some distance but a couple of observations;

1. Jaques were also hardwood dealers and presumably would have sourced materials from outside the UK. I'm not sure if there is absolute evidence that they used English boxwood for their early chessmen. Of course there may be information to contradict this.

2. The Strand magazine from 1895 that featured an article on the FY Ayres factory stated that the company stocked 150 tons permanently of boxwood imported from Asiatic Russia. This was used in the production of chessmen and croquet balls.

3. I will be very surprised if chessmen are currently made from "British" boxwood. It is quite scarce and expensive. Perhaps the title is a play on words .

4. Finally my CS pieces are somewhat lighter than my poor photography shows. I will try and get a more accurate photo, the ones I have are several years old.

Just so you know Alan's picture of Steve's 1904 CS set in an original set, not a remake.  I had the privilege of seeing it up close and actually touching the pieces that were held by the great of that time. Like I said it was put away and resurrected about 115 years after the fact. Pristine condition. 

Also just so you know I meant to say that my photos are several years old, not the pieces! They are of the same ilk as Steve's.

A Museum Quality post  

Mick,  It would be nice if you could post more pictures of your chessmen.  I know the image shown was from your Picasa album from some time ago.  I think the color of both sets is similar, but I'd like to see more.  Thanks for posting!

Thanks.  Certainly Mick's and Steve's chessmen are museum quality!

It’s because antique boxwood pieces darken to a colour (usually a toffee colour) that is quite attractive. As a result, producers of high-end reproduction sets try to artificially age some of their sets to give them an antiqued look. The OP believes that by using English boxwood instead of the similar boxwood more commonly used in contemporary chess set production that better reproductions could be made. 

Thank You IpswichMatt, that is exactly what I mean and you said it much better than I did. It's more yellow and darker to begin with.

I have to say though that I'm not convinced that English boxwood is darker to begin with. I have a piece  from an old set which is a grubby toffee colour but which has a chip - the colour of the exposed wood where it's chipped is almost white.

How the different types of boxwood look as they age though is another question of course

These are all interesting points which should be more the topic of this. How much did the pieces oxidize? As Steve's pieces were hardly handled, the colour has to be contributed to the oxidation from sitting in the box or whatever container they were kept in for 115 years.

Not on topic is how rare that set is and that is the best of its condition. My guess is that they made maybe 10 or 12 sets at the most since they only needed 8.  As you can tell that is my favorite set beside being my favorite Tournament. 

I'm interested in hearing how you might identify English boxwood or any other origin.

nice puzzle

English box, nearly white: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwNKdJWgNSf/