Chess Boards
Among the endless variety of chessboards the solid flat boards can be either veneered, incrusted in marquetry with individual squares, or made in massive wood. Much the same applies to folding boards, where the pieces are contained in the interior.
Quadruple Chess Board
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Pictorial board
Appealing chess board with pictorial motives on the dark squares - printed on veneer. Germany, around 1900..
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Russian folding board
Russian folding board from the 80ies, with an ingenious plastic opening mechanism . Matched with an impressive plastic chess set - the board is veneered and sealed in thick poliester varnish.
19th C board
Massive board composed of wood cubes, reinforced in the rear by thick baseboard and copper screws. Weighs a ton - probably because of the gold treasure hidden inside? |
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Peghole Travel Board
Very small folding board for pegged chess pieces - marquetry inlay of bone squares with a few missing. Chinese , 19th C.
Block board
Another massive affair, but equipped with wooden legs. signed - made in the USA. sensibly 40 - 50 years ago. |
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Triple board
Superb recent board - marquetry board, set on a wooden frame, with a sealed cork rear. |
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Frame board
Old frame board - very modest looking, but solidly made. First half 20th C.
Miniature chess board
Miniature board , bone and ebony inlay on wooden base. All concave with age - 19th C.
Jacquet box
French Jacquet box, for chess, draughts and backgammon (=jacquet in french). Massive, dovetail joints, veneer on top. Must have been a standard article in bars and cafés in France and Blegium - first half 20th C - not really rare.
Japanese mosaic veneer
What looks like print at first sight, is actually very fine and varnish-fixed mosaic veneer! And would you believe it, for plastic Staunton pieces! Not very old...but very pleasant.
Potato sack board
Block-printed on potato jute sacking, this serves for a homemade US plaster set| All in all, from way back, folks....
Jaques Veneer Board
Large veneer board made by Jaques in London - corner damage, from the 30ies. Club size, with 63 mm squares - attractive rimline. |
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Kashmir bone inlay
Solid wood box with bone inlays - made in Kashmir - this seems to be an old craft practiced in these regions. |
Madagascar inlaid box/board
Simple marquetry around the board , with the pieces in small drawers below. Standard souvenir from Madagascar, a good while ago. |
Polish two-part board
Thgis board is ingenuously biparted, and stuck together thanks to two connecting pins, like a japanese go-board! The board form part of a polish carved set, contained in a kind of treasure chest!
Folding metal board
Small well made board - every of the tin and copper squares is nailed down onto the wooden support. The chess pieces are incredible, see under Metal Sets. |
Curved folding board
Unusual form of folding board, a variation on the usual rectilinear lines. GDR in the 70ies, for a lovely Erzgebirge carved set (see German Sets) |
Massive wood board - carved lines
Solid wood board where, the line network is etched deep, the black squares are coloured
Paper Frame
Very old framed board - the actual chess board is paper pasted onto a plywood plate. Early 20th Century, but might be older. |
Straw mosaic
Lovely folding boxboard , with a straw inlay to form the actual chess squares. Quite entrancing, sealed in thick varnish. from Taiwan, 60ies. |
Tin Board
Tin board - that is, tin cover over a wooden support - england , post WW1. Very ornamental, good display. |
Caucasian Board
Marquetry inlaid board on a massive wood folding board, with carved decorations outside, and apinted decoration inside! made in major numbers in Soviet days and after - ca. 1970. |
Mosaik Board
Small board, with actual squares composed of veneer triangles on top of wood support. |
Piroengraved folding
Massive wood japanese hinged board, odd squares engraved with a pyro-pen. |
Wooden Book Chess Set
Chess Set in form of a wooden book, pieces contained inside. Opulent figurative inlay outside, small well made folklore chessmen inside. From Novisad, Yugoslavia, 1970 - there is a commemorative plaque on the front, identifiying this as a present. |
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Composite marquetry
Small US-made board - every square is composed of three oblong blocks glued together! Pinewood and some dark wood like American Nut - sports a rear support plaque of wood. |
Screwed board
Odd german boxboard, the two halves are not hinged - but held together by a wooden screw when closed ! Which also serves to hold the two halves together when open. The pieces are simple cutout silhouettes - see Odd Sets & Singletons . |
Vietnamese folding box 1
Attractive folding boxes in lacquer work with handpainted motives , turned out by the Hanoi Arts & Crafts manufactury - in the 60ies to 70ies. The chess pieces for these boxes can be seen in Regency Sets. |
Vietnamese folding box 2
The same thing - but with a different motive .... |
Cabinetmakers Best
A proficient US cabinet makers master piece, this board is composed of solid blocks, is absolutely the same from both sides, has round edges, and is superbly finished. |
Signature
signed J.C. 1994 - thank you, J.C.! |
