An early and genuinely rare English playing set, dating from the late 17th century. Gareth Williams dated this set to 1670, and it features in his excellent book on antique chess sets, “Master Pieces”, published in 2000. He writes:
“Late seventeenth century English set. The knight has a triangular finial, probably to indicate a tricorn as worn by a gentleman squire...The rook with the incisive cutting of the brickwork and the knight without the horse head are indications of an early set. King 3 inches.”