Ecch - is this plastic ??
A not so short digression on plastic chess sets - from the 18th of November 2011 until the 28th of February 2012
Queens Jubilee 1975
Astonishing set - seemingly a plastic follow-up to the well-known Cy Enfield metal pen set of 1972. All the pieces fit together in one tube shaped object. Issued on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's 25th anniversary on the throne.
|
the tube opened in the middle
|
Materials
Plastics are a phenomenon of the 20th century - the fulfillment of the ancient aspiration of mankind to have basic materials at hand that are cheap to procure, can be endlessly formed and manipulated for the most diverse applications, and will not ever be scarce. Almost a manna from heaven, or a modern version of medieval alchemist's attempts at creating gold from worthless bases... the fabulous transmutation, in the form of transforming a little valued substance like crude oil into highly marketable synthetic substances! In the meantime, crude oil prices have hit the sky, but plastics are here - to stay !
Nowadays, plastics are everywhere - they serve for pipelines and tubes, sheets and films, detergent bottles, car parts, clothes, shoes, household appliances, and an endless line of more or less practical products that pervade our civilization. We also are blessed with empty water bottles littering streets and pastures, ketchup or detergent bottles, food blister packs and automobile components spilling out of containers, plastic sacks being swept along by the wind - in fact, most of the trash our civilization produces is made of plastic and poses continuously steeper problems of how to recycle this trash - while the backwash of plastic waste clogging our life is steadily expanding and threatening to literally engulf whole communities!
Scientists have been warning with growing insistence (1) that the oceans are more and more being polluted by plastic trash, which in some places even forms large solid plaques on the water surface - facts most dwellers by the seaside are aware of , as every tide deposits a flotsam of plastic along the beaches. Plastic nowadays is a self-fulfilling curse mankind has brought upon itself, along the line of the old Chinese ill wish: "May You live in interesting times!"
Nowadays, plastics are everywhere - they serve for pipelines and tubes, sheets and films, detergent bottles, car parts, clothes, shoes, household appliances, and an endless line of more or less practical products that pervade our civilization. We also are blessed with empty water bottles littering streets and pastures, ketchup or detergent bottles, food blister packs and automobile components spilling out of containers, plastic sacks being swept along by the wind - in fact, most of the trash our civilization produces is made of plastic and poses continuously steeper problems of how to recycle this trash - while the backwash of plastic waste clogging our life is steadily expanding and threatening to literally engulf whole communities!
Scientists have been warning with growing insistence (1) that the oceans are more and more being polluted by plastic trash, which in some places even forms large solid plaques on the water surface - facts most dwellers by the seaside are aware of , as every tide deposits a flotsam of plastic along the beaches. Plastic nowadays is a self-fulfilling curse mankind has brought upon itself, along the line of the old Chinese ill wish: "May You live in interesting times!"
Jubilee rooks
Different shapes - one of 'em closes the tube in the middle.....
|
|
Collector's misgivings
It is no wonder, therefore, that many (most?) chess collectors regard plastic chess sets just as another form of future rubbish, with a short lifespan and dubious attraction beyond the functional value of the objects. How in fact can one prize objects that resemble the joghurt cups or mustard tins being kicked around and flattened in the street ? Collectors, in their majority, have a retrospective attitude to objects - and collect obsolete, old, pedigreed or other objects with some history in order to preserve them, study the way of life they were attached to, the fashions and habits of the times they reflect, and simply to hang history - as the passage of time - onto some material pegs.
Plastic has not been around so very long yet - a scant 130 years if You count from Parkesine / Xylonite, about 100 years if You start with Bakelite - long enough for historic patinas to crop up, but not long enough compared with Washington, Berhampore or Augsburg Ivory sets. On top of that, hightech materials like Kevlar or Carbon excepted, plastic has very little inherent material value. If You melt down or take apart or squash a plastic set - even a prized Bakelite set - what you have is brittle trash. Wood, of course ivory, stone, precious metals, bone, tin, alpaka, iron - the principal materials chess men are made of - all these materials do have a more or less pronounced material value of their own.
Plastic has not been around so very long yet - a scant 130 years if You count from Parkesine / Xylonite, about 100 years if You start with Bakelite - long enough for historic patinas to crop up, but not long enough compared with Washington, Berhampore or Augsburg Ivory sets. On top of that, hightech materials like Kevlar or Carbon excepted, plastic has very little inherent material value. If You melt down or take apart or squash a plastic set - even a prized Bakelite set - what you have is brittle trash. Wood, of course ivory, stone, precious metals, bone, tin, alpaka, iron - the principal materials chess men are made of - all these materials do have a more or less pronounced material value of their own.
Tube chess
The tube construction makes this set easy to carry, fairly robust to store, and appropriate for playing an occasional game. It has a gadget charm, utilitarian - and is in the limits of what it is made of, very well designed.....
|
|
Toy Industry history
The rise of plastic in the first half of the 20th century seems to coincide with steep rises in the cost of natural materials - among them those used for turning chess sets, namely ivory and buffalo horn (due to the successive loss of colonies), bone (due to the growing industrial use of slaughterhouse bone), and of wood, due to deforestation and rising transformation costs.
Taking into account the social and economic change that accompanied the rise of plastic, a different kind of interest for the social history of games and gaming or the toy industry comes into play. That is, systematizing the industrial history of brands, companies, production techniques, the toy market in general and market conditions over time. Here plastic as having taken over the toy industry in the 40ies and 50ies provides the focus of interest - the history of the toy and leisure products industry in the last century is unthinkable without considering the rise and expansion of the plastic industry.
At the recent CCI USA meeting in St. Louis, CCI member Duncan Pohl generated a lot of interest with his account of the US chess production (2), most of which consisted in plastic chess sets, a subject he has made a detailed study of. Another US collector is a past specialist on all aspects of Ganin chess designs,covering the designs, Ganin's life down to the countless copies and moldings in the most diverse materials.
One thing is quite obvious : collecting costs money, in severe cases even a lot of money. With plastic chess sets one can experience similar emotions and discoveries than with older and possibly more valuable chess sets. In general, chess sets made from the multiple kinds of plastic comes cheap - in fact often at literally the price of trash - when You pick them out of a communal garbage bin. This does not literally mean that collecting plastics is the poor mans hobby - but in contrast the highest endowed fringe of collectors rarely will bother.....
Taking into account the social and economic change that accompanied the rise of plastic, a different kind of interest for the social history of games and gaming or the toy industry comes into play. That is, systematizing the industrial history of brands, companies, production techniques, the toy market in general and market conditions over time. Here plastic as having taken over the toy industry in the 40ies and 50ies provides the focus of interest - the history of the toy and leisure products industry in the last century is unthinkable without considering the rise and expansion of the plastic industry.
At the recent CCI USA meeting in St. Louis, CCI member Duncan Pohl generated a lot of interest with his account of the US chess production (2), most of which consisted in plastic chess sets, a subject he has made a detailed study of. Another US collector is a past specialist on all aspects of Ganin chess designs,covering the designs, Ganin's life down to the countless copies and moldings in the most diverse materials.
One thing is quite obvious : collecting costs money, in severe cases even a lot of money. With plastic chess sets one can experience similar emotions and discoveries than with older and possibly more valuable chess sets. In general, chess sets made from the multiple kinds of plastic comes cheap - in fact often at literally the price of trash - when You pick them out of a communal garbage bin. This does not literally mean that collecting plastics is the poor mans hobby - but in contrast the highest endowed fringe of collectors rarely will bother.....
a logo and company markings
|
Symbols and Copyright
The maker of this set seems to have been a public relations company - was this a one-off chess adventure for them ?
|
Atlantic divide
Among chess collectors, plastic seems to create an Atlantic schism - US collectors are more prone to invest in plastic chess - the US of A has a very scanty history of chess sets in wood, iron or bone made, but rather a large display of toy companies and plastic chess makers, based on an early and well developed molding and injection industry. Companies like Lowe, Gallant Knight, Drueke, Pacific Games, to name just a few, produced oodles of chess set for this huge country with its thriving chess practice, multiple chess clubs and school chess programs. On the other hand, sets in wood and other materials had to be imported, sometimes at a stiff price - the USA was the major export market for European chess manufactories during most of the 20th century - but plastic sets were made inland, until the arrival of the Asian producers ...
Europe benefits by its history and tradition - there are more old chess sets around, they are more accessible, and plastic has never become so dominant in chess as a sport as overseas. Plus the toy market - which chess is a very small part of - has remained more traditional in Europe than in the United States during a long time.
Europe benefits by its history and tradition - there are more old chess sets around, they are more accessible, and plastic has never become so dominant in chess as a sport as overseas. Plus the toy market - which chess is a very small part of - has remained more traditional in Europe than in the United States during a long time.
Modest Shorts
Horrible mini chess set, hollow, with bottom disks covering the bottom, saved from disgrace by opposite coloured bishop-tops. But interestingly both kings and queens lean a bit - either a tired mold, or a faulty production in two parts!
|
|
Let the accused stand
Where plastic really has its strong points - is the endless forms and boundless possibilities the material(s) will permit to create. Traditionally, chess sets conform to categories - they are either made for competitive play, for leisure play or for show effects. And they are made in certain consagrated styles - in Staunton, Regency, in Russian tournament form, in polish block-whittle style, in Chinese figurative, in African rural representative and so on.
Synthetic material, in its infinite variations tuned to the most diverse criteria , in theory, allows to create boundless forms in fe chess sets. In practice, and talking about chess pieces, with a limited market, only the occasional artist, novelty company or limited edition of objects will risk producing an innovative or modern or futurist design of chess men, because it is bound to be a risky affair.
But while the spread of material qualities permits realizing any kind of design, material lends - the hard truth is that most plastic sets are emulations or copies of older sets in valuable materials - that is, plagiarized or just simply stolen. Designs for chess set are rarely protected by patents - and when they are, the protection is of little avail to prevent copying and plagiarizing. The most prominent example of this fact is the Staunton design, registered as protected design by John Jaques and Nathaniel Cook in 1849 - and immediately plagiarized, counterfeited and copied by loads of turners and chess pieces makers.
In fact, one might come to the conclusion that a plastic form almost invariably copies another design already existing - in general, at the top of the copy staircase we have ivory or wood originals, which in turn are copied in metal, and finally in plastic.
Synthetic material, in its infinite variations tuned to the most diverse criteria , in theory, allows to create boundless forms in fe chess sets. In practice, and talking about chess pieces, with a limited market, only the occasional artist, novelty company or limited edition of objects will risk producing an innovative or modern or futurist design of chess men, because it is bound to be a risky affair.
But while the spread of material qualities permits realizing any kind of design, material lends - the hard truth is that most plastic sets are emulations or copies of older sets in valuable materials - that is, plagiarized or just simply stolen. Designs for chess set are rarely protected by patents - and when they are, the protection is of little avail to prevent copying and plagiarizing. The most prominent example of this fact is the Staunton design, registered as protected design by John Jaques and Nathaniel Cook in 1849 - and immediately plagiarized, counterfeited and copied by loads of turners and chess pieces makers.
In fact, one might come to the conclusion that a plastic form almost invariably copies another design already existing - in general, at the top of the copy staircase we have ivory or wood originals, which in turn are copied in metal, and finally in plastic.
|
Busts
Quite interesting - and large - set depicting kings and queens as copies of Renaissance bust portraits - an attempt at making a display set in cheap material. Made using a very odd technique of compression in molds, no mold line visible! Quite visual - but top-heavy knights!
|
|
Mass produced toy set
This is a well known design in the USA - Kingsway (thanks , Duncan) - interesting form, injection-formed, hollow inside - part of down market games boxes.... also made in a massive version.
|
Fiery Steeds
Well finished set from Japan - part-hollow.
|
|
Techniques
The overwhelming majority of plastic chess set are produced in molds, generally in high pressure injection machines. Molds consists of two parts, with half of the piece to inject hollowed out in concave form on each side, with a slight canal left to the exterior . When the molds are fastened together, liquid plastic can be injected with high pressure through the canal, usually there are also slight vents for the air in the mold to escape. Molds are sensitive pieces, usually made in high quality steel, and will lose their contours after a while. Molds not used have to be preserved with all care so they will not corrode rapidly - refurbishing a corroded or wasted mold often costs more money than making a new one.
Due to the use of two-part molds chess pieces generally have a slight "ridge" or seam where the molds touch, and a bit of plastic may seep out. These ridges have to be polished or filed down, in cheap productions this step is often omitted. A little "tail" from the injection canal may also remain which has to be cut or polished off. Older chess sets in bakelite or early plastics were formed by exerting mechanic force on the molds, for example in steam driven presses. A good part of molding technique was developed long ago for forming glass, but molds for glass and plastic vary considerably due to the much higher pressure exerted in plastic injection.
A small part of good quality plastic chess sets are turned on lathes or sawn. Mixed techniques occur - when a chess set is composed of various injected parts, which then are lined up on a central pin or screw, or glued together. Basically, it is never a question of technical difficulty, but of coldblooded feasibility calculations - will the finished product sell and at which price? Finally, resin chess sets may be cold-poured or even hot-poured in molds - even by amateurs - needing little technique, just a bit of patience and application!
Due to the use of two-part molds chess pieces generally have a slight "ridge" or seam where the molds touch, and a bit of plastic may seep out. These ridges have to be polished or filed down, in cheap productions this step is often omitted. A little "tail" from the injection canal may also remain which has to be cut or polished off. Older chess sets in bakelite or early plastics were formed by exerting mechanic force on the molds, for example in steam driven presses. A good part of molding technique was developed long ago for forming glass, but molds for glass and plastic vary considerably due to the much higher pressure exerted in plastic injection.
A small part of good quality plastic chess sets are turned on lathes or sawn. Mixed techniques occur - when a chess set is composed of various injected parts, which then are lined up on a central pin or screw, or glued together. Basically, it is never a question of technical difficulty, but of coldblooded feasibility calculations - will the finished product sell and at which price? Finally, resin chess sets may be cold-poured or even hot-poured in molds - even by amateurs - needing little technique, just a bit of patience and application!
British Oxygen
Small set - kings at 60 mm - of probably British origin, which seems to emulate features of classical designs - a bit of Regence, a drop of old english....
|
|
Plastics that count
Bakelite
The mother lode of plastic, invented in 1907 by Leo-Henri Baekeland, joining phenol and formaldehyde to produce a thermosetting material which turns rock-hard after cooling. The US patent expired in 1930, after which the Catalin Company acquired it, adding improvements like multiple colours and a wider spread of basic applications. Bakelite chess sets are highly prized - because they are fairly rare. They started to be made in quantity after the 1.World War, and seem to have gone out of fashion somewhere in the 40ies: many chess sets touted as bakelite are either the later catalin, made from different materials - or simply hard plastic.
Catalin
Successor name for Bakelite, with several alterations which permitted a larger range of bright colours. It is heat and water resistant, but will darken with age, acquiring some patina.
Galalith (Erinoid)
Invented in Germany in 1897 by Wilhelm Krische and Adolf Spitteler, in its day it was the cheapest synthetic material available, and was widely adopted by the fashion industry to replace horn, ivory and bone. Made by mixing casein from cow milk with formaldehyde, this material will degrade biologically, is water and fire resistant and permits creating effects of ivory, wood, horn, tortoiseshell or mother of pearl by mixing in components. Lots of chess sets were made in this material, among them by the german Uhlig company.
Celluloid
Invented by Alexander Parkes in 1855, by mixing camphor with cellulose nitrate, later taken over by his associate and renamed Xylonite. After years of tests to produce billiard balls, the US brothers Hyatt in 1872 started producing their version under the trade name as Celluloid. Chess sets in Celluloid are very brittle, and therefore rare - Celluloid today is fe used for making table tennis balls. (3)
Xylonite
Daniel Spill had collaborated with Parkes, and took over the Parkes patents after the bankruptcy of Parkes' venture, calling it Xylonite. This material is well-known to chess fiends because the British Chess Company first incorporated it to form the heads of some of their chess knights.
Bois durci ( = "hardened Wood")
Mixture of wood flour with gelatine or albumen - invented in 1855 by Henry Lepage - mainly used in the furniture industry, could be moulded under hydraulic pressure. Chess sets made in this material do exist, though I have not seen any........
Acrylic or Plexyglas (aka lucite or perspex)
Polymethylmethylpropenol was invented around 1928 , and has highly attractive properties: it transmits light better than glass, can be heated to 100 degree C and formed, can be cut and turned - and best of all, will burn without leaving any residues! Very popular for making light-refractory or translucent chess sets....
Polyethylen and Polyvinylchloride (PE and PVC)
Polymer synthetics - highly unstable against heat and moisture, not suitable for durable objects like chess men - but fractions of them are often mixed in with the "injection soup".
Polyurethan
Invented by Otto Bayer and others in the shady haunts of IG Farben - exists in many facets and for many applications. One of them nowadays is injecting very tough, heat, shock and water resistant street chess pieces....not habitual in normal chess men, but may form part of the mixture for any kind of injection process.
Tenite
Cellulose based thermoplastic first produced in 1929, made by Eastman Chemical. Used for the molding of chess sets in the USA.
Phenol / Phenolic resin
Denotes the group of phenol-formaldehyde-generated synthetics like Bakelite or Catalin - basically another name for the same thing.....the main question for the end result is always the mixing ratio of phenol with formaldehyde...
Ivorite
Trade name for Galalith or Phenolic mixtures pretending to copy or counterfeit natural ivory. In some cases, these materials are almost indistinguishable from natural ivory....
Karbolit
Hard plastic, invented and used scantily in the UdSSR, claimed to be the "Russian Bakelite", on a phenol base. The company of this name has been around since 1914, is at present still operating , is quoted on the stock exchange - and did at least manufacture one chess set.
The mother lode of plastic, invented in 1907 by Leo-Henri Baekeland, joining phenol and formaldehyde to produce a thermosetting material which turns rock-hard after cooling. The US patent expired in 1930, after which the Catalin Company acquired it, adding improvements like multiple colours and a wider spread of basic applications. Bakelite chess sets are highly prized - because they are fairly rare. They started to be made in quantity after the 1.World War, and seem to have gone out of fashion somewhere in the 40ies: many chess sets touted as bakelite are either the later catalin, made from different materials - or simply hard plastic.
Catalin
Successor name for Bakelite, with several alterations which permitted a larger range of bright colours. It is heat and water resistant, but will darken with age, acquiring some patina.
Galalith (Erinoid)
Invented in Germany in 1897 by Wilhelm Krische and Adolf Spitteler, in its day it was the cheapest synthetic material available, and was widely adopted by the fashion industry to replace horn, ivory and bone. Made by mixing casein from cow milk with formaldehyde, this material will degrade biologically, is water and fire resistant and permits creating effects of ivory, wood, horn, tortoiseshell or mother of pearl by mixing in components. Lots of chess sets were made in this material, among them by the german Uhlig company.
Celluloid
Invented by Alexander Parkes in 1855, by mixing camphor with cellulose nitrate, later taken over by his associate and renamed Xylonite. After years of tests to produce billiard balls, the US brothers Hyatt in 1872 started producing their version under the trade name as Celluloid. Chess sets in Celluloid are very brittle, and therefore rare - Celluloid today is fe used for making table tennis balls. (3)
Xylonite
Daniel Spill had collaborated with Parkes, and took over the Parkes patents after the bankruptcy of Parkes' venture, calling it Xylonite. This material is well-known to chess fiends because the British Chess Company first incorporated it to form the heads of some of their chess knights.
Bois durci ( = "hardened Wood")
Mixture of wood flour with gelatine or albumen - invented in 1855 by Henry Lepage - mainly used in the furniture industry, could be moulded under hydraulic pressure. Chess sets made in this material do exist, though I have not seen any........
Acrylic or Plexyglas (aka lucite or perspex)
Polymethylmethylpropenol was invented around 1928 , and has highly attractive properties: it transmits light better than glass, can be heated to 100 degree C and formed, can be cut and turned - and best of all, will burn without leaving any residues! Very popular for making light-refractory or translucent chess sets....
Polyethylen and Polyvinylchloride (PE and PVC)
Polymer synthetics - highly unstable against heat and moisture, not suitable for durable objects like chess men - but fractions of them are often mixed in with the "injection soup".
Polyurethan
Invented by Otto Bayer and others in the shady haunts of IG Farben - exists in many facets and for many applications. One of them nowadays is injecting very tough, heat, shock and water resistant street chess pieces....not habitual in normal chess men, but may form part of the mixture for any kind of injection process.
Tenite
Cellulose based thermoplastic first produced in 1929, made by Eastman Chemical. Used for the molding of chess sets in the USA.
Phenol / Phenolic resin
Denotes the group of phenol-formaldehyde-generated synthetics like Bakelite or Catalin - basically another name for the same thing.....the main question for the end result is always the mixing ratio of phenol with formaldehyde...
Ivorite
Trade name for Galalith or Phenolic mixtures pretending to copy or counterfeit natural ivory. In some cases, these materials are almost indistinguishable from natural ivory....
Karbolit
Hard plastic, invented and used scantily in the UdSSR, claimed to be the "Russian Bakelite", on a phenol base. The company of this name has been around since 1914, is at present still operating , is quoted on the stock exchange - and did at least manufacture one chess set.
Stylish knight playing set
Solid playing set with nicely styled knights -kings at 90 mm, the pieces are massive and the mold ridges polished away. Good appearance...made in the former GDR as far as I know....
|
|
Bakelite and older plastics
These chess sets are highly prized, for various reasons:
- appearance - we often find original designs, and fancy esthetic treats,
- packageing - they often are contained in attractive boxes or cassettes,
- rarity - while bakelite heralded the arrival of serial and even mass production, these sets today are getting rarish,
- many of these sets are surrounded by the aura of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil - which is why lots of non-chess collectors prize them highly,
- the material by weight and solidity exudes a sensation of "quality" - we "feel" attracted.
- appearance - we often find original designs, and fancy esthetic treats,
- packageing - they often are contained in attractive boxes or cassettes,
- rarity - while bakelite heralded the arrival of serial and even mass production, these sets today are getting rarish,
- many of these sets are surrounded by the aura of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil - which is why lots of non-chess collectors prize them highly,
- the material by weight and solidity exudes a sensation of "quality" - we "feel" attracted.
|
Metro Games
Made in the USA in the 30ies to 40ies - this Catalin set has mellowed somewhat with time - the effect sometimes called "butterscotch" - all pieces are lined up on a central screw.
|
|
Attractive cassette
Tailored for the presents market or gentlemen's shops, this set was well presented in leather cassette, with a folding board along.
|
|
Uhlig Galalith chessmen
This set was made in a mixture meant to simulate ivory - with lines and grains that might easily deceive an untrained eye...
|
Sectioned
Similar to the well known Uhlig bone sets, these pieces are also composed of sections - which are connected by inserted screws instead of threads.
|
|
|
French Travel Set
Appealing travel set with turned pieces in Catalin or Galalith - the materials used (cardboard, plastic, leather imitation) permitted the maker to produce a fairly cheap set with a good commercial margin....
|
|
sturdy chessmen, a cardboard box covered with fake leather
|
German bakelite
Bakelite set, possibly pre-WW I. Some breaks show a grainy and slightly brittle material. slight darkening of the light pieces, no articulations - all pieces seemingly turned in one piece, except knights, composed of two.
|
|
A bit of this and that
It is quite impossible to discuss and present the numerous designs and types of plastic chess that have cropped up over 100 years of time. Diversity is the rule, and also part of what makes it interesting. Anything goes - or may go!
King Richard - Toriart
Resin version of the "King Richard" set by ANRI - this is supposed to be a mixture of resin with sawdust - not apparent in the smooth and glistening surface of these pieces....
|
|
Composed Czechs
Interesting set in Czech Tournament fashion - the kings are made of 5 components, lined up on a a central axle , the bishops of three, the knights and rooks of two... it is not evident how the parts were made, no mold suture line is visible....
|
|
|
Opaque and marbled effects
Simple forms, but opaque and transparency effects in these chess men, especially the lighter side..
|
Garnier
Opaque chess made in France, very brittle plastic, translucent pieces. Two things are interesting:
- it is a dead copy of the german "Bundesform" sets from Nazi days, - mold ridges are not removed but joined by another pair on the "neutral"sides, creating an ornamental effect! |
|
Miniatures
Plastic proved especially handy for making miniature or pocket set pieces. Turning pocket and pegged chessmen from wood, bone, horn and ivory is a notoriously fickle enterprise, the material splinters easily in small dimension, and an awful lot of rejects and waste of expensive material occurs. This is especially painful for the production side as the added value gained in travel sets was and is not very high. Much more than with larger sets, making miniature or pegged chess pieces depends on high quantity to be worthwhile. With plastic pieces formed in mold injection - or even lathe-turned, a high percentage of chessmen are made with less rejects or wastage, at a minuscule cost.
Handful of chess
At the limit of being playable, this cute vestpocket set features turned and (for the knight) crudely cut chess men in hard plastic. Some faults in turning prove how difficult it is to make such small chessmen on a lathe....
|
|
Miniature Austrians
A similar set , slightly larger, with a tang of Austria - compare also another set in the Austrian section of the Museum! Here the kings stand 22 mm, the box is made of cardboard with an imitation leather cover. Possibly all of these sets were made in Austria - ca. 50ies or even pre-WW2.
|
|
French box
Wallet-sized french set, turned pieces, cardboard box covered with showy paper , pieces display some similarities with the bakelite set shown farther above.
|
|
|
Folding pocket set
Standard wooden intarsia travel set from the 60ies or later - with mold-formed plastic pieces - much cheaper to procure than wooden pegged pieces.
|
|
Drueke
Octagonal shapes - that is the Drueke hallmark. Interesting way of fixing the magnetic pads - bottom pegs to squish a magnetized rubber ring onto....
|
Acrylic glass (Perspex, Lucite)
This material has been often used for fashioning chess sets - basically because it permits to toy with various kinds of colour inclusions and create light and refractory effects. such sets are rarely made with chess in mind, and constitute mainly instances of interior decoration! Exceptions confirm the rule.....
Victor Vasarely acryl set
Not present in this Museum - donations accepted!
The most famous and possibly first of all lucite/perspex acrylic sets, this one follows in the line of the minimalist broom stick fashion set by Man Ray ....
|
Large acrylic chess men
Massive pieces, with 140 mm kings, obviously meant to be displayed. Lucite chess pieces generally either have a rectangular or a round form - acrylic glass is - among many other prefab forms - also available in round and quadrangular sticks...
|
Famille allemande - Koziol
The main part of the series of chess sets produced by one (West)-German maker in the post-WII- years. Quite impressive range .....
Famille Allemande - the Koziol plastic chess sets
This is the lions share of the large and plentiful issue of plastic chess sets by one single german producer - Koziol - who it seems went all out on the mold industry plank as early as 1935, when the traditional carving business of this family started to flag, and never looked back on their way to one of the major plastics companies in Germany! The company still exists and leads a blessed existence, producing household and present articles - but no more chess sets....
The range of chess sets produced between 1959 and the late 1980ies is quite astonishing: the main set of a Royal Court in medieval style was made in large size, medium size (??) and small size, all of them also handpainted!, the small size in a pegged travel version with a plastic folding board! The original in ivory - which the set was copied from - seems to have disappeared ...
Apart from that, the company produced
- a set celebrating a Renaissance court - (see pictures),
- a set showing a Roman army (not shown),
- and at least one standard Staunton set.
The figurative sets were either licensed or illegally copied all over the world - in plastic and metal versions. Today, the Italfama foundry in italy and Manopoulos in Greece still sell tin versions of these sets. Duncan molds, Supercast and Arts & Crafts molds seemingly were produced to cast these sets in resin or plaster....at least one licensed copy - according to recent evidence - was produced by Gallant Knight co. in the USA. And I recall owning a set copied in ceramics and handpainted as well....
The range of chess sets produced between 1959 and the late 1980ies is quite astonishing: the main set of a Royal Court in medieval style was made in large size, medium size (??) and small size, all of them also handpainted!, the small size in a pegged travel version with a plastic folding board! The original in ivory - which the set was copied from - seems to have disappeared ...
Apart from that, the company produced
- a set celebrating a Renaissance court - (see pictures),
- a set showing a Roman army (not shown),
- and at least one standard Staunton set.
The figurative sets were either licensed or illegally copied all over the world - in plastic and metal versions. Today, the Italfama foundry in italy and Manopoulos in Greece still sell tin versions of these sets. Duncan molds, Supercast and Arts & Crafts molds seemingly were produced to cast these sets in resin or plaster....at least one licensed copy - according to recent evidence - was produced by Gallant Knight co. in the USA. And I recall owning a set copied in ceramics and handpainted as well....
Royal Colours
Top of the range, handpainted solid plastic figurines, with felts, in a compartmented box - kings stand 100 mm or 4 ".
|
|
Minis and Maxis
|
Two versions of knights
Check the differences - the colour version has a rider, black and white is unseated...
|
Pegged
Mini version with pegs, and plastic peghold board...
|
|
The mini size kings stand 50 mmm, with pegs 55 mm. A middle format seems to have been produced as well, with 75 mm kings - which used to be included in coffee packages at one time or another - but I have not seen it! And apart from the pegged version, the mini version was also produced with magnetic pieces a magnetic folding board!
Pegged board
Well made, with metal hinges and clasp, plus felt inside.
|
|
|
Mini Versions
The mini coloured version is pretty rare ... such a job painting these tiny figurines....might have been sold in kits with instructions for colouring?
|
Renaissance Court
 tough material...
Also known as "Landsknechte" - the pawns being equipped as 15th C soldiers, akin to the Swiss Guard in the Vatican. A set much seen, in multiple versions by various manufacturers...
|
|
Toy Staunton set
Modest little Staunton set, kings at 67 mm and felted - obviously a toy size, but - this set is housed in a similar croc-effect custom cardboard box as the others....
|
|
|
Logos
Translates as "Chess - the royal game"
|
Famille Russe - the Soviet Chess culture
In Soviet days, an large number of manufactories produced chess sets - in many cases companies with totally different economic purposes. Most of these Combinats have vanished or been transformed, leaving their occasional chess sets for posterity. And since plastic was a new material, it was highly prized, considered the way to the future, and estimated as a material congenital with creating the new mankind that communism always promised and propagated.... These sets are not rare - anything made in this huge country was made in enormous production runs. But - especially plastic sets have a way of getting "diminished" in the turmoil of a nation where everybody actually plays chess....
Opaque and irisating pieces
Highly visual set, whose swirling colours emulate the appearances of Murano glass - some optimists try to pass these sets as authentic amber! Developed by the Moscow Plastics Association in 1971, made in large numbers... kings stand 103 mms.
|
|
White and black poppets
Massive and heavy busts, with metal tops and bases, possibly loaded. Still made until recently in huge numbers, these chessmen are eminently playable, and convincing as a design and product. Material is most likely carbolite, a phenol-based Russian plastic. 100 mm kings, weighty pieces, plus a massive hard plastic folding boards with decorations (bakelite?).
|
|
|
Sibirian Souvenir
Stands to reason - the white pieces certainly look like snowmen....
|
From Odessa with love
Elegant chess pieces, each composed of several plastic components - no mold ridges visible. How were they made? The main purpose of the producing factory may provide the answer - this set came in a folding board marked " Odessa Writing Materials Factory"! But according to Janis Dumpis, Estonia, this set was made in a factory in Minsk! In 1980 - for the occasion of the Moscow Chess Olympiad....
|
|
|
Kossacks
Solid UdSSR souvenir set from the Ukraine - themed on the herders culture of medieval Kossacks . Shares the same plastic board with the "snowmen" - so probably from the same manufactory. Kings stand 90 mm high...solid pieces, not weighted.
|
Soviet Kitsch
Souvenir set for tourists on the Krim Peninsula, from the 70ies to 80ies, with maritime motives - Poseidon, sea nymphs, dolphins and shells. Rather fragile pieces with lots of easily breakable jutting parts - glittery light material - made in a Yalta factory.
|
|
Signs of quality
Collectors concentrate on objects they consider worthwhile preserving for posterity. From a museal, historic or antiquarian standpoint almost any object made by man is worth preserving, in order to document the halting stumble of the species towards progress? or regress? or abscess? or decess?
But for collectors only the choice pieces make sense, the preservation and catalogisation of the best, the objects that we should not want to disappear without a trace. If this principle holds true - and is shared by many or most - then most plastic chess sets per definition are excluded. But then - de gustibus non est disputandum! Or as a crusty and well-known person in the collectors orbit is wont to utter: "Anything that rings Your bell, man!"
Here are some of my personal prejudices:
- plastic chess sets should be solid all through - hollow pieces are CRAP (exceptions like the Jubilee set shown confirm the rule),
- a plastic chess set, to be worth bothering about, MUST be interesting, out of the common, off-road in form (either of rare beauty or extraordinary ugliness...),
- plastic sets should not be sloppily finished (mold ridges jutting out fe) - or show signs of sloppy manufacturing - that is downmarket toy trash,
- mass produced theme sets (= merchandising by media conglomerates), fe of comic figures (Micky Mouse, Flintstones, Simpsons etc.) or commercial movie themes (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Transformers ), will not stand the test of very little time - avoid!
One turning manufactory in Germany - long closed - used to produce acrylic Staunton chess sets, attractively tinted, to the same exacting quality standards as their horn and wood sets, in the same style - still , if you compare them , which one would You choose?
But for collectors only the choice pieces make sense, the preservation and catalogisation of the best, the objects that we should not want to disappear without a trace. If this principle holds true - and is shared by many or most - then most plastic chess sets per definition are excluded. But then - de gustibus non est disputandum! Or as a crusty and well-known person in the collectors orbit is wont to utter: "Anything that rings Your bell, man!"
Here are some of my personal prejudices:
- plastic chess sets should be solid all through - hollow pieces are CRAP (exceptions like the Jubilee set shown confirm the rule),
- a plastic chess set, to be worth bothering about, MUST be interesting, out of the common, off-road in form (either of rare beauty or extraordinary ugliness...),
- plastic sets should not be sloppily finished (mold ridges jutting out fe) - or show signs of sloppy manufacturing - that is downmarket toy trash,
- mass produced theme sets (= merchandising by media conglomerates), fe of comic figures (Micky Mouse, Flintstones, Simpsons etc.) or commercial movie themes (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Transformers ), will not stand the test of very little time - avoid!
One turning manufactory in Germany - long closed - used to produce acrylic Staunton chess sets, attractively tinted, to the same exacting quality standards as their horn and wood sets, in the same style - still , if you compare them , which one would You choose?
|
Lovely boxes
Perhaps the most edifying part are the sweet illustrations on the rough cardboard container....
|
|
|
Caution in the curves...
The innocuous and bland appearance of plastic objects which we daily manipulate, belie the tremendous civilizational implications they have brought on us. One does not have to be paranoid about the so-called " March of Progress", or a social and environmental critic in order to understand how the rampant spread of plastic has fundamentally and irretrievably altered the circumstances of our live on this planet. All the major transformations of nature mankind has wrought on this planet - deforestation, abuse of soil and water, overheating of the planet and its atmosphere - indicate that as a species we are past masters of the art of shooting our own foot, cutting the branch we sit on, and creating pitfalls for us to stumble into. Like the handling of petrol - and the drift into a plastic dominated everyday culture!
Most collectors are people with an interest in history and the trends of times - the past is what is interesting, because everything that is forgotten is new ! In a way, collectors are archeologists, uncovering swept over treasures, putting them into a historical perspective, trying to fathom the ramifications of seemingly cryptic leftovers from the past.
In this sense, older chess sets in plastic certainly deserve their due dose of interest and observation. Even if they are blatant copies of older handmade sets in natural materials, they often reflect human enterprise, artistry and inventiveness at their best. And certainly the first steps on the industrial road that we have come along, quite a long way..... (5)
Most collectors are people with an interest in history and the trends of times - the past is what is interesting, because everything that is forgotten is new ! In a way, collectors are archeologists, uncovering swept over treasures, putting them into a historical perspective, trying to fathom the ramifications of seemingly cryptic leftovers from the past.
In this sense, older chess sets in plastic certainly deserve their due dose of interest and observation. Even if they are blatant copies of older handmade sets in natural materials, they often reflect human enterprise, artistry and inventiveness at their best. And certainly the first steps on the industrial road that we have come along, quite a long way..... (5)
Karbolit set
Intriguing chessmen, made by the Carbolite factory - kings stand 72 mm, each piece is composed of two to three components glued together - the same set in red and white can be seen here on Joost van Vreij's Picasa site.
|
|
Notes
1) see for example here
and here
and here
and finally Wikipedia
2) A booklet with the lecture, printed on the occasion, may be obtained for USD 5.- from
Floyd Sarisohn (CCI USA)
3) see also the article on Celluloid on Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celluloid
4) see also Guy Lyons' PICASA album, the section on plastic chess sets here
5) see also Keith Middleton's collection of plastic chess sets
don't miss visiting Duncan Pohl's Picasa albums - Duncan is one of the collectors who has spent most time in finding out the why's and where's of chess sets in plastic...
check here
and here
6) see also the Essay on plastic chess men - written over a year ago - in Essays & Notes
and here
and here
and finally Wikipedia
2) A booklet with the lecture, printed on the occasion, may be obtained for USD 5.- from
Floyd Sarisohn (CCI USA)
3) see also the article on Celluloid on Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celluloid
4) see also Guy Lyons' PICASA album, the section on plastic chess sets here
5) see also Keith Middleton's collection of plastic chess sets
don't miss visiting Duncan Pohl's Picasa albums - Duncan is one of the collectors who has spent most time in finding out the why's and where's of chess sets in plastic...
check here
and here
6) see also the Essay on plastic chess men - written over a year ago - in Essays & Notes
Reactions
14.11.
A very interesting set of views you have put together. Whilst I am not in not agreement with many of your points , I will concede that there are many more collectors out there who do agree with You.
For instance, auction houses almost dismiss the British Chess Co. molded Xylonite, as Plastic, but make no reference to the 1891 dating. What intrigues me about Plastic is that it offers the collector unlimited choice, and most sets are far more affordable . Also deciding what sets are made of is a project alone well worth scrutiny. Most important of all, is that with Plastic we collector researchers have far better chances of getting much closer to the truth on the details of these sets, than the on occasion at least made up theories of older sets.
I would love to debate this issue with you on an open floor in front of the CCI membership. My older turned Plastic sets are the equal of my wooden, Bone , or Ivory sets, when one views similar looking styles, in terms of time spent on the manufacture of the pieces. Clearly I do not own top notch Fleet street Hastilow Ivory type sets in either, Celluloid, Galalith, Bakelite, Catalin, Crystalate, Acrylic, Cast Resin, Tenite, and some unknown examples. Some older Chessmen are these days being converted into Jewellery, as the tactile feel of some Plastics are clearly desired by buyers. Plenty to discuss here, and my research work these days is focused into how sets were made and what with. Turned, cast, injection mouded or some other method ?
Cheers Guy
The Museum Curator:
In any case , collectors will not scoff at the plastic heads of BCC knights any more - but I would like to point out the fact that these mold heads were not introduced for artistic purposes, but because it was a lot cheaper to compress knights heads and then fasten them to the bases - than paying rare and skilled carvers to do so - as Jaques had started out in doing and continued to do. As you Yourself have explained in Your comprehensive CD book on BCC chess sets....
21.11.
After a big bad blank for a while, I saw your new 'show' when I checked in recently. I've been thinking about it since, before 'responding'. Unusually, for one of your shows, I came away a bit 'disappointed'! There are a number of facts one could argue about (eg Bakelite 130 years' old?) but that isn't the issue for me. (Thank you , has been corrected!)
More importantly, I got the impression that the show was disparaging plastic sets, which may not have been entirely your intention. You infer that Bakelite is the effective beginning of the plastic era - for me, Bakelite (and it's successor Catalin) are virtually the end of the interesting plastics! After that, one is mainly only talking of design, not material. This cuts out the more interesting plastics - Xylonite (limited chess use, of course, but true Bakelite probably had none!), Galalith, Hard Rubber, and some of the others - not to mention the 100% natural plastics such as horn, amber etc (although I accept that 99.9% of people will not consider these as 'plastics'! It only goes to show that you can't really consider 'plastic' as a single 'material').
Originally, plastics were not sought out as a cheap material - but, rather, a more sustainable & environmentally/ecologically-friendly material when natural resources were becoming scarce and more expensive - and they weren't that cheap as a material, and were often not seen as an inferior substitute as the time (often, the opposite was true).
(Curator: Good point! )
Equally, the early plastic chess sets had a greater degree of human skill involved in them - they were simply a material used, rather than being a cheap material that could be used in automated processes to produce low-cost items that would simply 'do the job' and little else. The last point gives rise to my biggest 'gripe', I think - in general the show seems to lump all plastic sets together and find them wanting, because the majority of plastic sets are 'trash'. This seems as unreasonable as saying wooden sets are poor, because the majority of wooden sets made are simple knockabout Staunton / Regence sets of little/no merit as collectors' items; or the same for bone sets - because the majority of bone sets were cheap playing sets rushed out to fulfil a market for affordable sets (age gives the latter a 'gloss' that probably didn't exist at the time).
I think that the material should be ignored and a simple question asked by a potential collector of any set: is this a satisfying set to look at or to hold? If so, then it may as well be considered 'collectible'. Next, of course, comes the question of value, and especially value compared to sets in other materials - and that's a minefield, for every collector to decide for himself.
For me, a good, solid plastic set that has been well-cast or hand-turned/carved can be more satisfying than a cheap, quickly-made, antique bone set - age alone shouldn't really come into it (although for many, it does to the exclusion of much else). On the other hand, if the comparison is between a cheap injection-molded plastic set of indeterminate plastic and an antique, say, Canton Staunton set - the latter would win out, even though it may only have been quickly made for a tourist/export market : in collecting, everything is personal & involves 'relative' comparisons! That doesn't mean that I do not appreciate some later injection molded sets - I do! But, it's often for other reasons.
Plastics in collectibles generally is a very complex and emotive subject. How to get that across to a viewing public is the difficult thing. I and some others have been trying in our Picasa etc albums, but no-body has yet succeeded, I feel. Partly because we separate out our plastic sets - maybe they should be presented as part of the mainstream and their merits discussed as such? All the above is not intended to be unduly critical of your Show - I for one very much appreciate the effort you take in doing these. They are always talking points, and probably no more so than this one, where opinions will differ widely (and wildly), I'm sure.
Keith
The Museum Curator:
Plenty of good points - let me just zero in on three aspects of Your very constructive critique:
first - I am definitely not pooh-poohing ALL plastic sets - but the overwhelming majority and quantity of them are industrial products for without more to recommend them but that they are adequate to a certain function. If I despised ALL plastic chess sets, the Museum would not have a plastics room, and this show would not have gone online either!
- second, material quality - there are of course many materials, so lumping them together is possibly a bit unfair. Some are better , some lesser - plastics can be programmed for certain end applications in terms of heat and cold resistance, tensility, hardness or elasticity etc. etc. But in principle, Your critique brings up the old opposition of form viz. substance. And here I maintain that the substance is even in the best sets not up to the form - ad sometimes vice versa....an interesting form is the most important point of attraction, we agree - but the esthetic quality of the material also counts.
third , I would not agree that horn, wood, caoutchouk-based rubber or other "older" materials - even if they can be manipulated after heating - should be grouped under "plastics". That name in my opinion refers to Polymers and nothing else, even if other materials have plastic characteristics. Even humans do - plastic chirurgy reshapes or shapes anew features fo the human body! But does not polymerize us - so far !
22.11.
Two things I'd like to (ask a) question in regard to your plastic show. The first one may be more of a personal opinion but I'll ask it anyway.
When you state that if you melt down, squash or take apart a plastic set all you have is trash while other materials maintain some value if treated the same way I wonder if that is really true. If you melt down, squash or even, to take it further, crush bone, ivory, or wood, does it really retain any value? A crushed ivory chess piece is still destroyed is it not? I suppose you could take the damaged pieces, powder them and reform them into chess pieces, such as they do with stone and resin, but isn't that just another form of recycling, just as is done with crushed and destroyed plastic? Again, this may be more a difference in opinion but I thought it might be one that merited a little more discussion and/or definition.
Second, and this is where my lack of knowledge kicks in, but the way I understand it, were not the original plastic made without the use of any petroleum products? Plastics such as Tenite and Bakelite used/use wood filler, in particular, sawdust (perhaps recycled wood chess pieces that were damaged beyond repair? :-)) and galalith was a milk product. I actually tried to make a home-made version of galaith using only milk and vinegar - with admittedly mixed success, but it did form a plastic-like material. I believe it is mostly the 'modern' plastics that are made primarily of petroleum products, a prime example being polystyrene, which I understand is the material of use for many modern chess sets. While I really like and appreciate the older plastics such as bakelite and tenite, and find them to often make for a beautiful and desirable chess set, I really dislike - fairly intensely- the modern plastics. In fact, a more cold, untouchable, dead-in-the-hand material than polystyrene I feel has yet to be found.
I bought one fairly commonly designed, but heavily weighted plastic set to use in everyday play, but found the material to be so undesirable, even repulsive, to touch and use that I packed it away and pulled out an older plastic set to use instead. Again, perhaps I am in error on the materials used in the older plastics and the rest may be a matter of opinion as well, but I also thought it may be worthy of more discussion and/or research. I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the subjects.
Duncan
The Museum Curator:
The first plastics is an opaque question - according to a snippet on german Wikipedia a benedictine monk supposedly produced "artificial horn" from milk - in essence prehistoric galalith - for the House of Fugger which dealt in this kind of things, in the 16th century! But You're of course right that Xylonite, Bois Durci, Celluloid and Bakelite had a strong component of wood dust. So were they polymers or not? Here my weak chemistry background fails me...
As for inherent material value - wood can always be recycled downwards, for example a piece of distraught wood furniture can be used to make something else, and in the end wood will always burn and heat Your house. Ivory - we need not dwell on the value of the material. Sufficient to say that ivory dust can be cooked into a porridge that is edible! Bone - well it is not used so much any more, because plastic has stolen its market. But in former days it was fashioned into all kinds of everyday appliances as we know. And in the end, it can be shredded and used as fertilizer.
Plastic is more difficult to recycle because there are so many different types, each has different indices of thermic formability, burn value, resistance to heat, water and pressure etc. A disusable piece of plastic is very hard to reuse - or reroute or refashion for a different part or purpose. Vide the immense plastic automobile panel components that litter the piles of waste.
You may say all this is a bit farfetched as it has nothing to do with the purpose of collecting chess pieces. But I believe everything should be seen in a larger context - a historical, an environmental, even an existencial perspective....
A very interesting set of views you have put together. Whilst I am not in not agreement with many of your points , I will concede that there are many more collectors out there who do agree with You.
For instance, auction houses almost dismiss the British Chess Co. molded Xylonite, as Plastic, but make no reference to the 1891 dating. What intrigues me about Plastic is that it offers the collector unlimited choice, and most sets are far more affordable . Also deciding what sets are made of is a project alone well worth scrutiny. Most important of all, is that with Plastic we collector researchers have far better chances of getting much closer to the truth on the details of these sets, than the on occasion at least made up theories of older sets.
I would love to debate this issue with you on an open floor in front of the CCI membership. My older turned Plastic sets are the equal of my wooden, Bone , or Ivory sets, when one views similar looking styles, in terms of time spent on the manufacture of the pieces. Clearly I do not own top notch Fleet street Hastilow Ivory type sets in either, Celluloid, Galalith, Bakelite, Catalin, Crystalate, Acrylic, Cast Resin, Tenite, and some unknown examples. Some older Chessmen are these days being converted into Jewellery, as the tactile feel of some Plastics are clearly desired by buyers. Plenty to discuss here, and my research work these days is focused into how sets were made and what with. Turned, cast, injection mouded or some other method ?
Cheers Guy
The Museum Curator:
In any case , collectors will not scoff at the plastic heads of BCC knights any more - but I would like to point out the fact that these mold heads were not introduced for artistic purposes, but because it was a lot cheaper to compress knights heads and then fasten them to the bases - than paying rare and skilled carvers to do so - as Jaques had started out in doing and continued to do. As you Yourself have explained in Your comprehensive CD book on BCC chess sets....
21.11.
After a big bad blank for a while, I saw your new 'show' when I checked in recently. I've been thinking about it since, before 'responding'. Unusually, for one of your shows, I came away a bit 'disappointed'! There are a number of facts one could argue about (eg Bakelite 130 years' old?) but that isn't the issue for me. (Thank you , has been corrected!)
More importantly, I got the impression that the show was disparaging plastic sets, which may not have been entirely your intention. You infer that Bakelite is the effective beginning of the plastic era - for me, Bakelite (and it's successor Catalin) are virtually the end of the interesting plastics! After that, one is mainly only talking of design, not material. This cuts out the more interesting plastics - Xylonite (limited chess use, of course, but true Bakelite probably had none!), Galalith, Hard Rubber, and some of the others - not to mention the 100% natural plastics such as horn, amber etc (although I accept that 99.9% of people will not consider these as 'plastics'! It only goes to show that you can't really consider 'plastic' as a single 'material').
Originally, plastics were not sought out as a cheap material - but, rather, a more sustainable & environmentally/ecologically-friendly material when natural resources were becoming scarce and more expensive - and they weren't that cheap as a material, and were often not seen as an inferior substitute as the time (often, the opposite was true).
(Curator: Good point! )
Equally, the early plastic chess sets had a greater degree of human skill involved in them - they were simply a material used, rather than being a cheap material that could be used in automated processes to produce low-cost items that would simply 'do the job' and little else. The last point gives rise to my biggest 'gripe', I think - in general the show seems to lump all plastic sets together and find them wanting, because the majority of plastic sets are 'trash'. This seems as unreasonable as saying wooden sets are poor, because the majority of wooden sets made are simple knockabout Staunton / Regence sets of little/no merit as collectors' items; or the same for bone sets - because the majority of bone sets were cheap playing sets rushed out to fulfil a market for affordable sets (age gives the latter a 'gloss' that probably didn't exist at the time).
I think that the material should be ignored and a simple question asked by a potential collector of any set: is this a satisfying set to look at or to hold? If so, then it may as well be considered 'collectible'. Next, of course, comes the question of value, and especially value compared to sets in other materials - and that's a minefield, for every collector to decide for himself.
For me, a good, solid plastic set that has been well-cast or hand-turned/carved can be more satisfying than a cheap, quickly-made, antique bone set - age alone shouldn't really come into it (although for many, it does to the exclusion of much else). On the other hand, if the comparison is between a cheap injection-molded plastic set of indeterminate plastic and an antique, say, Canton Staunton set - the latter would win out, even though it may only have been quickly made for a tourist/export market : in collecting, everything is personal & involves 'relative' comparisons! That doesn't mean that I do not appreciate some later injection molded sets - I do! But, it's often for other reasons.
Plastics in collectibles generally is a very complex and emotive subject. How to get that across to a viewing public is the difficult thing. I and some others have been trying in our Picasa etc albums, but no-body has yet succeeded, I feel. Partly because we separate out our plastic sets - maybe they should be presented as part of the mainstream and their merits discussed as such? All the above is not intended to be unduly critical of your Show - I for one very much appreciate the effort you take in doing these. They are always talking points, and probably no more so than this one, where opinions will differ widely (and wildly), I'm sure.
Keith
The Museum Curator:
Plenty of good points - let me just zero in on three aspects of Your very constructive critique:
first - I am definitely not pooh-poohing ALL plastic sets - but the overwhelming majority and quantity of them are industrial products for without more to recommend them but that they are adequate to a certain function. If I despised ALL plastic chess sets, the Museum would not have a plastics room, and this show would not have gone online either!
- second, material quality - there are of course many materials, so lumping them together is possibly a bit unfair. Some are better , some lesser - plastics can be programmed for certain end applications in terms of heat and cold resistance, tensility, hardness or elasticity etc. etc. But in principle, Your critique brings up the old opposition of form viz. substance. And here I maintain that the substance is even in the best sets not up to the form - ad sometimes vice versa....an interesting form is the most important point of attraction, we agree - but the esthetic quality of the material also counts.
third , I would not agree that horn, wood, caoutchouk-based rubber or other "older" materials - even if they can be manipulated after heating - should be grouped under "plastics". That name in my opinion refers to Polymers and nothing else, even if other materials have plastic characteristics. Even humans do - plastic chirurgy reshapes or shapes anew features fo the human body! But does not polymerize us - so far !
22.11.
Two things I'd like to (ask a) question in regard to your plastic show. The first one may be more of a personal opinion but I'll ask it anyway.
When you state that if you melt down, squash or take apart a plastic set all you have is trash while other materials maintain some value if treated the same way I wonder if that is really true. If you melt down, squash or even, to take it further, crush bone, ivory, or wood, does it really retain any value? A crushed ivory chess piece is still destroyed is it not? I suppose you could take the damaged pieces, powder them and reform them into chess pieces, such as they do with stone and resin, but isn't that just another form of recycling, just as is done with crushed and destroyed plastic? Again, this may be more a difference in opinion but I thought it might be one that merited a little more discussion and/or definition.
Second, and this is where my lack of knowledge kicks in, but the way I understand it, were not the original plastic made without the use of any petroleum products? Plastics such as Tenite and Bakelite used/use wood filler, in particular, sawdust (perhaps recycled wood chess pieces that were damaged beyond repair? :-)) and galalith was a milk product. I actually tried to make a home-made version of galaith using only milk and vinegar - with admittedly mixed success, but it did form a plastic-like material. I believe it is mostly the 'modern' plastics that are made primarily of petroleum products, a prime example being polystyrene, which I understand is the material of use for many modern chess sets. While I really like and appreciate the older plastics such as bakelite and tenite, and find them to often make for a beautiful and desirable chess set, I really dislike - fairly intensely- the modern plastics. In fact, a more cold, untouchable, dead-in-the-hand material than polystyrene I feel has yet to be found.
I bought one fairly commonly designed, but heavily weighted plastic set to use in everyday play, but found the material to be so undesirable, even repulsive, to touch and use that I packed it away and pulled out an older plastic set to use instead. Again, perhaps I am in error on the materials used in the older plastics and the rest may be a matter of opinion as well, but I also thought it may be worthy of more discussion and/or research. I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the subjects.
Duncan
The Museum Curator:
The first plastics is an opaque question - according to a snippet on german Wikipedia a benedictine monk supposedly produced "artificial horn" from milk - in essence prehistoric galalith - for the House of Fugger which dealt in this kind of things, in the 16th century! But You're of course right that Xylonite, Bois Durci, Celluloid and Bakelite had a strong component of wood dust. So were they polymers or not? Here my weak chemistry background fails me...
As for inherent material value - wood can always be recycled downwards, for example a piece of distraught wood furniture can be used to make something else, and in the end wood will always burn and heat Your house. Ivory - we need not dwell on the value of the material. Sufficient to say that ivory dust can be cooked into a porridge that is edible! Bone - well it is not used so much any more, because plastic has stolen its market. But in former days it was fashioned into all kinds of everyday appliances as we know. And in the end, it can be shredded and used as fertilizer.
Plastic is more difficult to recycle because there are so many different types, each has different indices of thermic formability, burn value, resistance to heat, water and pressure etc. A disusable piece of plastic is very hard to reuse - or reroute or refashion for a different part or purpose. Vide the immense plastic automobile panel components that litter the piles of waste.
You may say all this is a bit farfetched as it has nothing to do with the purpose of collecting chess pieces. But I believe everything should be seen in a larger context - a historical, an environmental, even an existencial perspective....
