French Lardy Chess pieces

I can remember back in the 60's that this was the set to have! The company that made the fine pieces is long gone. As a young teen I wanted this set so bad but, it was not to be as I did not have the money! Can someone post a pic of this great French set so I can drool over the pieces? Thanks!

Something like this?

You're welcome.

Here's my French Lardy set on Flickr.

-Izmet

That sure looks like it a real classic! Thank you so much!!

Boxed Lardy set:  wooden box, folding wooden board with fabric back, and boxwood pieces.

nice...thanks for posting. 

I have a "made in France" Drueke set that looks identical except my N isn't quite as nicely detailed. Flamed maple dovetail joint box, plywood folding board, and yellowed instruction sheet.  Lardy ?

So sweet...  

There's probably a good story to tell about French wood pieces.

I had a 3" set in the familiar dovetailed box, in natural finish and a purplish brown. Not the highest quality as there were enough knotholes visible on the natural pieces. Lightly weighted, rooks a little short and skinny. In the Lardy family of design, though. Made in France. Early 1970s.

About the same time I got a 3.75" set from the USCF, also a made in France product. Pretty standard looking, like a Lardy. Quality was poor in that the queens were slightly different from each other and there were two slightly varying kinds of bishops, one each per side.

Knotholes on the white pieces, with a shiny varnish. The blacks were painted plack and varnished. They arrived with some chipping.

The white king was quite out of true.

Despite all that I have a sentimental attachment to my first big wooden set and wouldn't part with it.

I'ce seen a few Lardy's over the years and they were simply much better made, with better materials. My best guess is that France had other makers than Lardy.

I'd love to hear a good telling of French makers of decent chess pieces.

I have one of these, made by Lardy with a small wood box but no board.  I purchased it new about thirty years ago.

The white queen has developed a noticeable warp and a couple of bishops have a slight warp, all signs of using improperly aged wood.  I've had many wood sets and this one is the worst.   Because of the warping, I haven't used it in many years.

The box is nice, though.

I have heard that back when myself. The Indian sets don't warp unless you go cheap. My older Indian sets are like new. I enjoyed looking at the sets posted though..!

Here are my LARDY sets:

Thanks for the Lardy pics! Has yours warped at all? The first two boards are really kick arse!!

Probably. Most of the US chess sellers like Loewe, Drueke etc were importing and reselling Lardy sets back then. If your knight isn't as detailed, it would be a Tetes Simples (Lardy sets came in two versions, Tetes Fines, ie detailed head carvings, and Tetes Simples , simple head carvings). Back then, French Lardy sets were kind of like the equivalent of cheap Indian manufacturers nowadays, flooding Europe and NA with their sets...

One of the queens in one set - but I'm not sure whether it's due to warping or whether the piece was turned slightly off centre. Not very noticable anyway.

I have several Lardy sets and have always liked/enjoyed them . 

what, you don't think the third board, the drueke, isn't kick arse too?

I've enjoyed looking at these Lardy sets.  Back in the 70's, I used my father's set (75mm king) to do all my study and casual play--so the design is fondly etched into my memory.  It's the definitive staunton style in my book!

When I was digging through ebay France I came across tons of these for a little of nothing.  Some of them were maybe originals, and some were knock-offs, but they all looked very solid.  Ebay.com for a US citizen is just the beginning of the online chess market.  You gotta look at ebay.co.uk., ebay.fr, ebay.de...

And then there are various craigslist-like sites.  France has the great troc.com.  Might be worth a look.