Collectors News
Every now and then, I find a news item, an odd sale on ebay, or some other snippet which strikes me as interesting, and which I would like to share with visitors to the Museum. And I have a request to visitors:
I would like to make this website at bit more interactive, as far as the format permits, and that involves a give and take from users and visitors as well. So, folks - lets waltz - if You find any news item of Your own, please forward, preferably with photos in jpg format, for publishing - with due mention of the provider, of course!
I would like to make this website at bit more interactive, as far as the format permits, and that involves a give and take from users and visitors as well. So, folks - lets waltz - if You find any news item of Your own, please forward, preferably with photos in jpg format, for publishing - with due mention of the provider, of course!
Alex Baburin - auction No. 40
After an interval of over two months, Alex Baburin is staging chess book auction No.40 this weekend - as usual, online at www.gmsquare.com. The lots listed this time comprise mainly a complete run of Leopold Hoffer's Chess Monthly from 1879 to 1896, plus other rare and old chess mags.
Ebay seller goes website
One of the most prolific chess set sellers on ebay.co.uk - Cherie Waring with the handle c7war - is emancipating herself! Well known to collectors for top sets, clear , concise and painfully honest descriptions - Cherie has decided to set up her own website to sell her trouvailles. The reason is quite simple: ebay costs a lot of money in fees and senselessly lost time - if a seller will prescind the usurary taxes of the great auction houses , it stands to reason he or she will not ride well with the constantly growing greed of ebay. The ebay managers have the art of squeezing the max lucre out of their sellers down to a fine art, calibrated by highly evolved data measuring statistics no doubt. Plus You have non-payers, endless hassles with the obligatory payment method Paypal, and constantly degenerating market etc. The only asset of ebay is the high volume of visitors - a single asset which Cherie Waring wants to instrumentalize in the future....
A great advantage for collectors: they will have a fixed price for sets, and can communicate with the seller directly.
A great advantage for collectors: they will have a fixed price for sets, and can communicate with the seller directly.
Luke Honey in business
As announced last December, Luke Honey, former chess specialist at Bonham's (and Philips, Philips & de Pury etc.) - has established himself as an independent antique dealer specializing in chess - better late than never! - using the Internet as base, instead of asphalt based standing premises! Check out his website here....the emphasis is on chess, but as an old hand in the auction world Luke obviously has a fine eye for good small antiques of any sorts....
Crumiller Art Project reaches 600 objects
26.4. Jon Crumiller kindly informs that his Art Project at present includes 600 works of art dealing with or showing chess, among paintings, photographs and sculptures. Check it out under this link. This very likely is going to be the referential page for Chess Art - especially as Jean-Marc Ricci's page seems to have closed down!
Chalet "O Casulo" in Figueiró dos Vinhos
Chess Museum to open in Portugal !!
26.4. International Arbiter Carlos Oliveira Dias informs me that a new Chess Museum will open on June 24 in the central Portuguese town of Figueiró dos Vinhos. This Museum, unique in Portugal and in Spain, will occupy the picturesque turn of the century building "O Casulo" (se pic above) , and show all kinds of objects referring to the culture and history of chess - boards and pieces, clocks, books, all kinds of printed matter, stamps etc. etc.
The Museum will start principally with the private collections of Dias, Antonio Curado and José Bray - but actively invites collectors to donate or lend some of their treasures. Given the actual constricted situation of most Portuguese municipalities, it remains to be seen whether the Museum will actually open open on the date announced. For details (in Portuguese) and localization, click here ....
The Museum will start principally with the private collections of Dias, Antonio Curado and José Bray - but actively invites collectors to donate or lend some of their treasures. Given the actual constricted situation of most Portuguese municipalities, it remains to be seen whether the Museum will actually open open on the date announced. For details (in Portuguese) and localization, click here ....
Sub -miniature chess set and table
The tiniest chess set in the world ?
Maarten Meerman in Canada has turned what is most likely the tiniest chess set ever made - a chess table with board and pieces between the size of a rice grain and a coffee bean! Take a look at this little wonder - Maarten also makes single pieces and has come up with chess earrings and single chess pieces as well as chess tables - all in sub-miniature size, of course!
Maarten is a space engineer who relieves the tedium of his rather theoretical engineering work on a computer screen with - turning microscopically sized objects on his lathe at home - yes , among the turner's there is a small and elite group of a nano-turners specializing in sub-microscopical turning! Contact Maarten if You want some nano chess men at this address!.
Maarten is a space engineer who relieves the tedium of his rather theoretical engineering work on a computer screen with - turning microscopically sized objects on his lathe at home - yes , among the turner's there is a small and elite group of a nano-turners specializing in sub-microscopical turning! Contact Maarten if You want some nano chess men at this address!.
Baburin Book auction No.39 - 14 - 16 March
Auction 39 has been scheduled for 14 - 16th of March - on
www.gmsquare.com
Our auction No 37 was very successful – out of 77 lots, 74 were sold! Some went very high – for example, the score-sheet of the game Flohr-Lasker (Moscow 1936) fetched €1.460.-, while the first volume of the Columbia Chess Chronicle went for €1.165. The first Italian edition of Ruy Lopez (Tarsia, Venetia 1584) changed hands for €3.000, while the first English edition of Philidor fetched €1.179.-. Note that the catalogue of our last auction has been posted online in Word and PDF formats – you can view and download it at http://www.gmsquare.com/chessauction/index.html
Please note that our next chess auction (No 38) will take place on 24-26 January 2013. Lots will be posted online in mid-January. If you would like sell anything at this auction, please get in touch with me and send your items to me in early January. Most collectors have in their libraries duplicates and books they don’t plan to keep. Our auction could be a good place for selling such books!
Update (25.1.) : auction No.38 has been rescheduled for 31.1. - 2.2. !!
Auction 39 shd take place on 7 - 9th of March!
www.gmsquare.com
Our auction No 37 was very successful – out of 77 lots, 74 were sold! Some went very high – for example, the score-sheet of the game Flohr-Lasker (Moscow 1936) fetched €1.460.-, while the first volume of the Columbia Chess Chronicle went for €1.165. The first Italian edition of Ruy Lopez (Tarsia, Venetia 1584) changed hands for €3.000, while the first English edition of Philidor fetched €1.179.-. Note that the catalogue of our last auction has been posted online in Word and PDF formats – you can view and download it at http://www.gmsquare.com/chessauction/index.html
Please note that our next chess auction (No 38) will take place on 24-26 January 2013. Lots will be posted online in mid-January. If you would like sell anything at this auction, please get in touch with me and send your items to me in early January. Most collectors have in their libraries duplicates and books they don’t plan to keep. Our auction could be a good place for selling such books!
Update (25.1.) : auction No.38 has been rescheduled for 31.1. - 2.2. !!
Auction 39 shd take place on 7 - 9th of March!
25.12.
Auction Record for amber chess board
An opulent amber chess board which belonged to King Charles I was sold at Sotheby's on the 24th of Dec in a heated bidding battle for - gbp 601.250.- !! This is a bigt step upwards from the sale of the Mann-Eichel chess board at Sotheby's on the 4th of July for gbp 445.250.- !
This must be the absolute auction sales record of any chess item - I would be glad to receive any correction from informed readers, to rectify this assertion ! The board was made in 1607 in Königsberg, Eastern Prussia (today Kaliningrad) by Georg Schreiber, (sign. Georgius Scriba, + 1644) , then a reputed craftsman in amber, and was owned by Charles' father James I. It was taken to the scaffold by Charles I, who before losing his final game handed it to his chaplain Bishop William Juxon - in whose family it stayed for the next hundred years. In the 19th Century the board was acquired by Lord Robert Hesketh - and remained in the family until today.
It looks as if the family trust is back in funds, at least for the time being - although 400.000.- pounds can melt away awfully fast (30 % are retained by the house!). In the 70ies the then and present Lord Hesketh (Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh) probably splashed a good amount of money on automobile racing, running a formula 1 team with drivers like James Hunt and Harald Ertl competing. This team closed down - for lack of money! - in 1978. Hesketh also tried to produce a motorcycle under his name, in an enterprise that also ended in failure.
Hesketh was a prominent member of the Conservative party, served in government from 1989 to 1991 as Under Secretary and Minister of State. From 2003 on wards till 2006 he was Tory treasurer, but had to resign in the middle of personal financial troubles, which forced him to sell the family seat at Easton Neston (Towcester, Nortshampshire).
This must be the absolute auction sales record of any chess item - I would be glad to receive any correction from informed readers, to rectify this assertion ! The board was made in 1607 in Königsberg, Eastern Prussia (today Kaliningrad) by Georg Schreiber, (sign. Georgius Scriba, + 1644) , then a reputed craftsman in amber, and was owned by Charles' father James I. It was taken to the scaffold by Charles I, who before losing his final game handed it to his chaplain Bishop William Juxon - in whose family it stayed for the next hundred years. In the 19th Century the board was acquired by Lord Robert Hesketh - and remained in the family until today.
It looks as if the family trust is back in funds, at least for the time being - although 400.000.- pounds can melt away awfully fast (30 % are retained by the house!). In the 70ies the then and present Lord Hesketh (Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh) probably splashed a good amount of money on automobile racing, running a formula 1 team with drivers like James Hunt and Harald Ertl competing. This team closed down - for lack of money! - in 1978. Hesketh also tried to produce a motorcycle under his name, in an enterprise that also ended in failure.
Hesketh was a prominent member of the Conservative party, served in government from 1989 to 1991 as Under Secretary and Minister of State. From 2003 on wards till 2006 he was Tory treasurer, but had to resign in the middle of personal financial troubles, which forced him to sell the family seat at Easton Neston (Towcester, Nortshampshire).
Jon Crumiller's Chess Art Project
Among the many documents Jon has collected in order to facilitate dating and identification of chess sets - he has put together a large database of chess painting and drawings available on his Chess Reference site.
Now Jon has upped the ante once more, creating a spreadsheet of all 287 paintings which organizes, attributes and provides links to the full-size photos. This is a goodly step on the way to having an encyclopedic database cum pics of ALL chess-related paintings, drawings and sculptures...and will be very helpful for anybody colelcting, writing or researching chess, or just looking to illustrate some chessic texts! Please compare with earlier picture and chess art collections on the net - under Varia in Links - to appreciate the differences...
Now Jon has upped the ante once more, creating a spreadsheet of all 287 paintings which organizes, attributes and provides links to the full-size photos. This is a goodly step on the way to having an encyclopedic database cum pics of ALL chess-related paintings, drawings and sculptures...and will be very helpful for anybody colelcting, writing or researching chess, or just looking to illustrate some chessic texts! Please compare with earlier picture and chess art collections on the net - under Varia in Links - to appreciate the differences...
Swiss Chess Museum - now permanent exhibition!
Werner and Roland Rupp have finally managed to set up their Swiss Chess Museum in a permanent show housed in a large warehouse in Kriens near Luzern - until now it was a virtual Museum . This is the dream of almost every major collector, to establish their collection as a publicly accessible physical exhibition! And these gentlemen from Switzerland - have done it! Bravo and hooray!
This is therefore the second all-Chess Museum worldwide, the first being the Rotterdam Chessmen Museum. See the Museum section under Links!
Over 3.000 chess sets are in the Lucerne Museum and generally visible on weekends between 10h00 and 16h00 local time. When in Switzerland, make a point of visiting Lucerne and the Swiss Chess Museum!
This is therefore the second all-Chess Museum worldwide, the first being the Rotterdam Chessmen Museum. See the Museum section under Links!
Over 3.000 chess sets are in the Lucerne Museum and generally visible on weekends between 10h00 and 16h00 local time. When in Switzerland, make a point of visiting Lucerne and the Swiss Chess Museum!
Modern varnish on Staunton chessmen
Simon Purkis of London has set up a venture named Purling Ltd. to produce wooden Staunton chessmen in modern colour schemes, deviating from the traditional natural vz. black, or red vz. black. It is a a bit the old story of new vine in old vats.... for a well-balanced beverage!
Simon has his colour schemes done by reputed local artists - psychedelic designs, swirling colours, deep glowing lacquers etc. - and will also do special designs on order. See for details here....
Simon has his colour schemes done by reputed local artists - psychedelic designs, swirling colours, deep glowing lacquers etc. - and will also do special designs on order. See for details here....
Chessmen Exhibitions
A short report on a fascinating exhibition of Medieval Chessmen and Backgammon has just been published under Ancient Chessmen .
Also, the Italian section of CCI via rodolfo Pozzi ran a local exhibiton on chessmen in Como from June till the beginning of August - a report with numerous pictures is visible on the CCI Italia site - do not miss visiting it, although it is in Italian!
Much the same report can also be seen on the CCI Magazine site - do not miss it either - 'cause it is in the King's English!
Also, the Italian section of CCI via rodolfo Pozzi ran a local exhibiton on chessmen in Como from June till the beginning of August - a report with numerous pictures is visible on the CCI Italia site - do not miss visiting it, although it is in Italian!
Much the same report can also be seen on the CCI Magazine site - do not miss it either - 'cause it is in the King's English!
W.T Pinney - American Staunton sets
US collector Mike Ladzinsky - a dyed-in-the-wool adept of Staunton chessmen , see his great albums! - has managed to dig up a fairly rare US-made Staunton set - by a company called W.T. Pinney - situated in Los Angeles. These sets can be dated via recurrent ads in the 1940ies US Chess Review - for "Liberty Chess Sets" - the name also indicates the set was made and sold in war times! It also proves that wooden Staunton tournament chessmen of good quality were made in the USA in some quantity, despite the imports from Europe - that is, by
- Drueke in Grand Rapids,
- W.T. Pinney,
- Herman Steiner,
- and the turners of the "Cambridge Springs" sets with the spire-topped kings (see under Recent Entries)!
- and possibly others?!
Take a look at these very sturdy and workmanlike chessmen - most probably made at a time when imports form Europe proved impossible. Check Mike's Pinney album on
W.T.Pinney
and compare with the Herman Steiner chess set from much the same period, mentioned further down on this page!
Update from Mike Ladzinsky:
These "Liberty" sets were made in 4 sizes with 4.5" kings, 4" kings, 3.75" kings and 3" kings. The 4.5 Master size is shown in my Picasa album. For comparison , I have also included pictures of the 4" Club size and 3.75" small club size pieces. The 4.5" and 4" sets are weighted. The 3.75" set is not weighted. A great tournament set and was used in the 1941 US Championship along with other national tournaments.
- Drueke in Grand Rapids,
- W.T. Pinney,
- Herman Steiner,
- and the turners of the "Cambridge Springs" sets with the spire-topped kings (see under Recent Entries)!
- and possibly others?!
Take a look at these very sturdy and workmanlike chessmen - most probably made at a time when imports form Europe proved impossible. Check Mike's Pinney album on
W.T.Pinney
and compare with the Herman Steiner chess set from much the same period, mentioned further down on this page!
Update from Mike Ladzinsky:
These "Liberty" sets were made in 4 sizes with 4.5" kings, 4" kings, 3.75" kings and 3" kings. The 4.5 Master size is shown in my Picasa album. For comparison , I have also included pictures of the 4" Club size and 3.75" small club size pieces. The 4.5" and 4" sets are weighted. The 3.75" set is not weighted. A great tournament set and was used in the 1941 US Championship along with other national tournaments.
Luke Honey goes independent
From Luke Honey - for many years the principal responsible for chess auctions at Philips and Bonham's, we have this notice:
I am currently working on a new website for my antiques business "Luke Honey Ltd" which is expected to go "live" in January. I will be dealing in antique chess sets and games through the website - and will be sending out newsletters to chess collectors. I would be grateful if chess collectors could get in touch with me with their email addresses- and I will add them to my client mailing list for chess. Or if any chess collectors are interested in selling their chess sets through me, please can they contact me.
My contact is:
Luke Honey Ltd (Fine Art & Antiques)
Email: lukehoneyfineart@aol.com
Mobile: +44 (0) 7900 887054
I am currently working on a new website for my antiques business "Luke Honey Ltd" which is expected to go "live" in January. I will be dealing in antique chess sets and games through the website - and will be sending out newsletters to chess collectors. I would be grateful if chess collectors could get in touch with me with their email addresses- and I will add them to my client mailing list for chess. Or if any chess collectors are interested in selling their chess sets through me, please can they contact me.
My contact is:
Luke Honey Ltd (Fine Art & Antiques)
Email: lukehoneyfineart@aol.com
Mobile: +44 (0) 7900 887054
Baywatch
Plse note: Baywatch from the 19th of Dec onwards will be published on a page of its own!
The 16th of November proved a pretty good day for Austrian chessmen on ebay - and for one reputable seller from Hungary:
- a "camel head " Austrian set sold for USD 207.-,
- a very rare red/white Old Vienna bone set of good size sold for USD 811.-,
- a small Biedermeier set with simple bishops sold for
USD 202,50 !,
- a monstrously large Old Vienna set (kings height 135 mm!) sold for USD 290.-,
- and a slopecut bishop Biedermeier set (king 120 mm) topped out at USD 523.- - total sales USD 2.133,50 eljen!
Jolly good for the old Austrians, although the pre-Christmas optimism might have aided. On the other hand, another very good tall Biedermeier set remained unsold with a fixed price of USD 699.- - c'est la vie!
In contrast , a rather intriguing 18th century bone set from Germany - supposedly sold at Phillips in 1999 for a thousand pounds! - only reached USD 455.-
A late 19th century Jaques Staunton set in a labeled box
was sold for gbp 786.- on Oct. 1 - in contrast an impressive ivory set in Carton Pierre box (kings at 3,5 inches) remained unsold at gbp 4.000.- on Nov. 19 - but is being offered again at the same rate, maybe the wicket will drop in the second innings (no, it didn't!) !
Also notable the sale of a BCC Royal Chess Set (3 1/2 " kings) on October 5 - the famous CD on BCC chess men by Mick Deasey and Guy Lyons has put the value of these chess men into perspective, by the looks! If You haven't got it yet - Mick still has a few for sale at 20.- gbp!
The cherry on the cake these last weeks must have been
the gbp 1.550.- for a rather impressive bone pulpit set, albeit incomplete!
Off ebay, a fancy figurative ivory set from ca. 1900 sold for a whopping 27.000.- euros (plus 22 % taxes!), though! Ebay is the penny fair of chess sets, still some nice finds are always possible ....
Off ebay, a fancy figurative ivory set from ca. 1900 sold for a whopping 27.000.- euros (plus 22 % taxes!), though! Ebay is the penny fair of chess sets, still some nice finds are always possible ....
Chess Reference site - Jon Crumiller
Jon Crumiller's Reference pages are an absolute eye-opener for any chess collector. Most interesting are Jon's unearthing of addresses and identities of ALL chess manufacturer's and makers active in 19th Century London, by going through all London Registers. Jon has also produced a spreadsheet showing the business life of all of the major London chess craftsmen .... a perfect map of 19th century chess manufacture in London, one of the major chess cities in those days.
Even more important for practical reasons, is Jon's scanning and posting of all chess auction catalogues at his disposal - complete with prices, results, and of course pictures of the items.
Here is the link to the main page:
Crumiller Reference
Thanks , Jon!
Even more important for practical reasons, is Jon's scanning and posting of all chess auction catalogues at his disposal - complete with prices, results, and of course pictures of the items.
Here is the link to the main page:
Crumiller Reference
Thanks , Jon!
Dresden catalogues
A limited number of the various catalogues - 4 alltogether for different exhibitions! - printed for the Dresden CCI meeting ares till available from
Thomas Thomsen
who organized Dresden together with Jens-Frieder Mükke. Especially interesting is Mükke's article on the Erzgebirge chess makers.....
Thomas Thomsen
who organized Dresden together with Jens-Frieder Mükke. Especially interesting is Mükke's article on the Erzgebirge chess makers.....
Herman Steiner chess sets
Several months ago I was contacted by a Californian who has inherited a garage full of Herman Steiner designed chess pieces. The story as told is all here - check it out, it is most interesting, last not least for the superb photos from the Piatigorsky tournaments (please note the Solora chess clocks used!).
The owners of some 50 old chess sets want to sell them off at a fairly hefty price, which may be justified by the association with Herman Steiner - and various chess-crazed Hollywood greats who have used or owned them. And then - one can always compromise, can't one?
The owners of some 50 old chess sets want to sell them off at a fairly hefty price, which may be justified by the association with Herman Steiner - and various chess-crazed Hollywood greats who have used or owned them. And then - one can always compromise, can't one?
