geislingen-bone-figural-chess-set-18th-century

Lovely early set in original condition from a major European chess collection.

The town of Geislingen (in Southern Germany) was noted for its ivory and bone carving. Geislingen sets typically feature sea-horses for the knights. Until relatively recently, it was thought that these sets came from Dieppe, in Northern France. You can read an article on the subject by Barbara Hollander here.