This hand painted chess set was supplied new to a customer in around 1996 and was made by ourselves under our Banbury Studio brand.
It is a reproduction of a traditional ivory Mandarin chess set which was imported to this country in the mid to late nineteenth century by the British Chess Company of Stroud in Gloucestershire. Elaborately carved upon canted bases it shows the Mandarin Emperor and Empress as King and Queen; the Castle (rook) is represented by ceremonial elephants; the Bishops by the Chief Ministers; the Knights by the Riders of the Royal Escort; and the Pawns by the Palace Guard. The chess set was manufactured in cold cast marble and painted in sumptuous gold, red and azure enamels by the studio artists in Banbury. Baized with red West of England cloth.
Great condition, Grade 2 under the Hoyles Vintage Grading System (see here).
