A Turned Boxwood and Ebony “Coffee House” Chess Set of Large Size, Hamburg, circa 1880
possibly a travelling set, or set designed to be used with a pegged board, kings surmounted with crosses, queens with petalled knops, bishops with small, tulip-shaped mitres, knights as horses’ heads, rooks as turrets with brickwork, pawns with ball finials (all the chessmen with drilled holes in their bases), in an attractive 19th century pine box of oblong shape decorated with decoupage motifs of fruit, flowers and butterflies, and a printed instruction pamphlet in German text (Hamburg)
