Selenus chess set found today in a flea market in Switzerland

Hmm, very difficult to say.

I checked again with a strong  magnifying glass. It is probably bone. My wife thinks the same (she is physician and believes she can distinguish bone from ivory).

If they are indeed bone, what kind of bone is it i wonder?

Cow, I guess.

I wonder if they really are bone. It looks very different from the bovine bone material I have seen in other pieces.

I have several sets of bone, and mostly I can say within seconds that a set is done of bone (Haversian System). However, I am not sure about polished bone. In this set the first impression is ivory, but if I use the magnifying glass to see the parts which are “hidden”, there I believe to see features characteristic of bone. What puzzles me is the weight- they feel heavier than bone! 🤨 

Anyway, I remember that the price was for a set of bone.

I have asked a friend of mine who is an expert bone carver. He is not sure what it is at the moment, but he can exclude the regular types of bone we often see in chess sets, i.e. cow, horse, camel etc. It is difficult to see from the pictures, but it seems there is no Haversian system. The complete absence of Haversian canals would definitely mean it is not bone. His closest guess at the moment is whale tooth. Can you tell me the height and, more importantly, the diameter of the pieces?

Thanks Holgar, here the height and diameter (of the basis)
K 7.1 cm, 1.8 
Q 6.1, 1.8

N 6.1, 1.7

R 4.3 , 1.5

P 4.5, 1.5

I mean „Holger“ (auto corrected)

Sorry, I entirely forgot to provide the further feedback I received. Here is what my friend wrote:

"That mottled pattern, while the closest I can think of is whale teeth, did not REALLY look like the normal pattern of distribution of the inclusions in whale teeth. The size (the diameters, not the heights. The height is practically never a problem, it's always the diameter.) Surprised me a bit. I imagined them being bigger. Judging by that, it can after all be bone of some kind that I never came across. Definitely not the "normal" cow-horse-camel, but can be something exotic like giraffe, elephant, I don't know what. I do know giraffe metatarsi, they will easily supply solid pieces of up to 20 mm diameter. But they certainly do not have that mottled pattern. Other bones of giraffe, however, possibly can. Or bones of large tropical animals.The giraffe bones I am familiar with don't show much Haversian lines, either, so maybe other bones don't. Also, there can be considerations of really exotic stuff, like large crocodile teeth. I have never came across these, so couldn't say. Definitely not hippo teeth, though, I know those, and of course not elephant or mammoth. Or walrus, that's totally different.

Hope that helps, though it really only muddles up the question."

Thanks Holger, I somehow missed your answer. Interesting stuff, we were also puzzled after searching in our books and internet. 

Grüzi and greetings Brasileirosim, EfimLG47 and others

My father passed recently and I have the remnants of a chess set he got as a boy. Dad and I used to play chess for hours on a Saturday afternoon (but not this set). Based on a reverse google search using the photos below, I found this forum and your notes -- suggesting it is a Nuremberg Spindle, Selenus Spindle of some hybrid. I also found a similar photo from the Dutch Chess museum. Sadly most of the pieces are lost - I probably ran over them with a toy truck as a child, but I do have the original box. Most of the black pieces seem to have faded. Any thoughts on the origin -- or how to complete the set would be welcome. I live in Canada but coincidentally used to work in Basel!

Danke zer. Thanks. Russ

I am including a photo from the Dutch chess museum www.schaak-museum.nl/Germany, as well as my dad's set:

Dear Russ, sorry for your loss. The set is indeed what I would call a Nuremberg Spindle set. They do come up for auction every now and then, but it will require some patience to find the right type. Not all of them look the same, but have slight differences in detail, as you can see from Joost van Reij's Dutch chess museum website. I suggest checking the usual auction platforms for sets like this (do not look for "Spindle" only, because most seller would not know the term), in particular ebay, Invaluable and The Saleroom. Good luck and best regards, Holger

Holger,

Kind words and a kind deed.

I will begin my search and let you know if I have success. My dad died at 93 and got his chess set at 13, so good use out of it. Even if I don't get a perfect match, it would be nice to 'restore' the set.

Cheers, Russell

I hope you live a healthy life at least as long as your dad did...Beautiful set,btw. Clearly your dad showed good taste by holding on to it.

Russell,

there is a very similar (though not identical) set coming up for auction in Germany mid-October. Here is a link in case you are interested. The set should be selling for a reasonable price, as it is an incomplete set as well (one pawn missing).

https://www.lot-tissimo.com/de-de/auction-catalogues/daniel-meyer/catalogue-id-daniel10028/lot-683b34c6-287f-4a3a-a91e-b08400e8b7e6

Best regards, Holger

Holger,

Firstly, thank you so much for your time and advice. Also, I checked out your website and your collection is fabulous!!

I will make a note of the date and make a bid. I have one black pawn, and mixing this (or similar) set with my dad's would be part of the charm.

You have already done a lot to help. Still, as someone new to this - any advice welcome.

- To a collector without my nostalgic connection, do you have a price range that you predict it would go for?

- The start price is 50 euros. If my reserve price is for example 150, would you suggest I follow an incremental process (e.g., 50, 60, 70,...) or jump say from 50, 60 to 100. Any advice, or suggested tactics welcome.

Regardless, I will let you know how it turns out.

Danke fil mal,

Russell

Russell,

thank you for your kind words about my collection. Very much appreciated!

Predicting a price range or estimating a realistic value is always tricky. It always depends a lot on circumstances. If someone really want to have a set he or she will likely be willing to spend more. But my guess would be that a complete set in good condition would be somewhere in the region of 200 EUR, so an incomplete set should sell for less. 150 EUR is a good value and with a bit of luck you might get it for less. I don't think the interest in these sets is so large that you have significant competition.

Regarding increments, this will be dependent on the auctioneer. Most auctioneers have their own incremental process, so it would be difficult to jump to higher numbers. I suggest you follow the live bid and increase manually when required (if you have a chance to be online at that time).

Regardless of the auction I mentioned, I have another offer that I just stumbled upon. A German seller on ebay is offering this (complete) set. Price is rather on the upper end, so you might want to try with offering something a bit lower in case you are interested.

Again, good luck! Holger