This delightful set was offered on Ebay months ago, and whilst nicely carved- it is not a true Barleycorn set. King 10 cms, in superb condition.
Note this:- there are a few jokers offering sets described as ‘Barleycorn’ or ‘barley twist’ – they are not Barleycorn!
This rather misleading type of description is being offered, and not at giveaway prices. New collectors beware, as in the future if reselling you will not be able to persuade well informed collectors that these descriptions are acceptable.
For the record, my site offers a written description of what true Barleycorns really are, taken from Gareth Williams ‘Chess Masterpieces’ , essential reading for starter collectors.
For the record, I have no ‘Staunton Style’ sets in my collection, the latest and most daft form of description to confuse the confused, as even Confucius would find this nonsense confusing!
I have only one Jaques chessboard, but none I can call ‘Jaques style’! No Lund or ‘Calvert style’ amongst my some 50 English pattern sets.
The use of the wording ‘style’ as a selling tool is mighty confusing to no doubt the many, and yet I have never seen a proper comparison with a treasured maker to back up this rather bogus looking claims. As a collector I take a pretty negative view when a seller uses the term ‘style/pattern’ and yet no evidence is provided to support such misleading claims. I will never buy from such people, and such listings are seriously polluting the hard worked research completed in the host of chess collecting books that I have.
If in doubt check out (via a Google search) a true barleycorn, and check out the far more detailed carving on the kings and queens clearly missing from the so-called
‘barley twist’ listings, style etc.
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