Last year my wife bought me a small set during a visit to the Republic of Ireland in Wexford, & according to a well informed CCI member these small sets were called ” SLENDERS”, some time ago a researcher dealer suggested to me that if sets have minimal value then research is often neglected. the B & CO CHESSMEN are highly sought after, and one wonders if French makers tried to copy the slender B & CO sets, and made limited numbers of them, as they don’t pop up too often.
Since just about every antique or bric a brac shop offers basic French Stauntons in plain stained boxes. I have managed to pick up around 5 of these likeable sets, and noted that they have varied sizes from a 6 cms king to 7.5 cms – don’t lose a pawn from one of these sets as they are getting a little expensive just now.
A recent set I purchased involved a bidding dog fight with an E Bay dealer, but was all the more interesting because the pieces had a nice polished finish, with a stained & varnished box. On one set have a date of 1932 & 1934 written on the box underside , but in my opinion such info can easily be added to the box, as none of my sets have a maker’s label on them, on the photo I have a flawed B & CO set with the wrong knights . These boxwood are surprisingly tough as they don’t tend to be badly damaged when offered for sale.
I have recently seen a set for sale on Ebay but for these sets the knights look wrong, so if the basic French knight is not present, buyer beware!!
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