The Carrara Chess-men
1INTRODUCTION
The Staunton chessmen design was regis-
tered on 30 March, 1849, by Nathaniel
Cooke and first offered to the public for sale
in September of that year. It is well known
that Jaques was the exclusive producer of
the Staunton chessmen and that these chess-
men were made in Boxwood and Ebony as
well as "the finest African Ivory". But did
Jaques also "produce" the Staunton chess-
men in Wedgwood Carrara or in Boxwood
and Rosewood?
THE JAQUES CARRARA CHESSMEN
There is ample evidence that Jaques adver-
tised the availability of the Staunton chess-
men in a material, referred to as "Carrara
Marble" and produced by the well known
Wedgwood Company. However, there
seems to be some question as to whether the
chessmen advertised as "Carrara Chessmen"
were ever produced or, if they were, were
they made by Wedgwood.
Figure 1
Figure 1 provides physical proof that these
Carrara "Marble" chessmen were not only
mentioned in numerous advertisements, they
were actually produced. Of the four pieces
in existence, one
Knight and one
Rook bear the
mark of a King's
crown on their
summits. That
mark is identical
to those found on
the early Jaques
Figure 2 ivory chessmen
shown.
What still remains to be determined is
whether the Carrara chessmen were actually
produced by the Wedgwood company, since
they do not bear the Wedgwood mark (at
least, the four existing pieces don't). Perhaps
only the King bore the Wedgwood mark, but
since an example of the King has not yet
been seen, that question can't be answered
with certainty at this writing. According to
Robert J. Reichner, a Wedgwood dealer and
a director of the Wedgwood society of New
York, there are no known records in the
Wedgwood files on the Carrara chessmen or
any Staunton pattern chessmen that might
have been produced by them. However, in
an article written by him in the 1990 annual
issue of Art Ceramica (#7), there is an inter-
esting paragraph on page 26.
"Flaxman-designed pieces were mostly pro-
duced in jasperware. There is known to exist
at least one set with jasperware pieces for
one side and drabware pieces forming the
opposition. Harry Buten reported that a few
sets were produced in bone china in 1910 in
white and pink with the other side in white
with blue bases. In the August 1936 issue of
Page 1 of 6
Old Wedgwood, it is stated that sets in
white, red or blue carrara, which resembled
parain ware, were also
sold in 1849 . No red Figure 5
Wedgwood piece has been reported in any
available literature, nor has any piece defi-
nitely been identified as Carrara."
While not identifying the chessmen specifi-
cally as Staunton pattern, the 1849 dating of
the chessmen would seem extremely coinci-
dental. Since only four of the white chess-
men have been discovered to date, the color
or colors of the opposing army are not
known, although it is believed that they were
"delft" blue.
Of particular interest is the registration
stamp which has been fired into the base of
each of the chessmen. This is shown in Fig-
ure 3. Comparing
this stamp with the
lozenges found on
the early Jaques
chessmen, it will be
noticed that the cor-
rect fields are
present.
backward "5". The correct lozenge is shown
in Fig. 6.
The Office of the Regis-
trar of Design pre-
scribed the data to be
shown in the registra-
tion mark. This was
done in the “registration
Figure 6 certificate” that the
Registrar of Designs signed and attached to
the duplicate copy of the design drawing
that was returned to the Proprietor when his
application was granted if the application
complied with the terms of the 1842 Orna-
mental Designs Act Class II Act. Since it
was the responsibility of the proprietor of
the registered design to produce the lozenge
design and affix them to the chessmen, the
printed green discs bearing this registration
mark would have been designed by
Nathaniel Cooke, who was probably the cul-
prit responsible for the errors in the first two
printing of the registration stickers. The reg-
istration mark stamp for the Carrara chess-
men would have been the responsibility of
the producer, Wedgwood. They got it right
the first time.

Figure 3 There were actually As an aside, the registration certificate that

three versions of the Nathaniel Cooke would have received for
green lozenges that the Staunton Chessmen contained the regis-
were affixed to the tration number, 58,607, and the following
base of the early wording:
Jaques chessmen.
The earliest, shown I HEREBY CERTIFY that the DESIGN of
in Figure 4, had the which this is a copy was on behalf of
"S" field missing, Nathaniel Cook of 198 Strand London,
Figure 4 but everything else REGISTERED this thirtieth day of March
was correct. The 1849 in pursuance of the Designs Copyright
next version, shown Act, 5 & 6 Vict. c.100, in respect of the ap-
in Figure 5, was cor- plication of such Design to ornamenting Ar-
rect, except for the ticles comprised in WOOD Chess-men for
which a COPYRIGHT is granted of thirty six
MONTHS.
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The registration mark was required to iden-
tify the goods as being duly registered and
was limited to a three-year period of cover-
age. Interestingly, the registration mark on
the Staunton Chessmen only covered articles
in wood. Affixing the mark to ivory or Car-
rara Staunton Chessmen was probably done
inadvertently and constituted an unlawful
abuse of the Act. Explanations of the fields
on the mark are shown in figures 7A and 7B.
The only known box which housed the Car-
rara chessmen is the Carton Pierre casket
with the Staunton hand-signed label with the
hand-entered number "24" shown in Figure
8. This would signify that this was the 24th
Staunton set produced by Jaques, not the
24th set of Carrara chessmen. Since the ad-
vertisements for the Carrara chessmen do
not specifically mention size, it can be safely
Figure 7B
assumed that they were only made in one
size. That would correspond to a King
Figure 7A
Figure 8
height of 8.9 cm based on the scale of the
other four chessmen from the part set.
It is worth noting here that Jaques specified
the size of their chessmen by the base diam-
eter. This is a much better metric than King
height, since the latter can be greatly af-
fected by the size of the King's finial. Pre
turn-of-the-century Jaques chessmen typi-
cally had much smaller King's cross finials
than their contemporaries.
There are numerous ads for the Staunton
chessmen in The Illustrated London News
(ILN) as well as other prominent news pa-
pers. A sampling of these ads is reprinted
herein. The “revolutionary” new Chessmen
were first formally advertised in the Septem-
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ber 29, 1849 issue of the Illustrated London
News (ILN) on page 223.
THE STAUNTON CHESS-MEN
Registered No. 58, 607, 5th and 6th of Victo-
ria, cap. 100.
The nobility and Gentry are respectfully in-
formed that these new and elegant CHESS-
MEN are now obtainable of W. Leuchars,
38, PICCADILLY, at the following prices,
viz: …
In Wedgwood's Carrara, with the Carton
Pierre Box and new Treatise … £2; 12s, 6d.
Note the use of the reference to Wedgwood's
Carrara. Then there is the following adver-
tisement for the Staunton Chessmen that ap-
peared in the December 29, 1849 issue of
the ILN, page 447.
"The most Elegant Christmas Present for
New Year's Gift is a set of THE STAUNTON
CHESSMEN, in the unique box of Carton
Pierre, resembling Richly Carved Ebony. In
the finest African Ivory, 5 guineas; Wedg-
wood's Carrara, £3; Ebony, etc., £1 15s;
Club size, loaded, £2 5s, in mahogany box.
Each box containing an admirable Treatise
on chess by Mr. Staunton, May be obtained
of all dealers of Chess-men. Wholesale,
Jaques, Hatton-Garden. Any bookseller can
procure them."
Here, here are some interesting snippets
from Howard Staunton’s weekly column in
the ILN from 1849 and 1850. Note
Staunton’s April 27, 1850, reply to Bel-
gravia in the ILN. Here, he clearly links the
production of the Carrara chessmen with the
Wedgwood factory. That location is also ref-
erenced in Reichner’s Art Ceramica article
and is amply supported in the literature. Re-
tail outlets where the Carrara chessmen
might be purchased are also clearly identi-
fied in various ads between 1849 and 1850.
ILN, Sept. 22. 1849; Pg 355: THE
STAUNTON CHESSMEN - In reply to nu-
merous enquiries as to when-and-where the
new Chess-men can be obtained, we are re-
quested by the proprietors of them to state
that the delay in their publication is occa-
sioned solely by the efforts making to render
the men in every respect deserving the ex-
tensive patronage they have the promise of
securing, and that the sets complete in Ivory,
Carrara Marble, and Wood, including a
beautifully characteristic box of "Carton
Pierre," and a new treatise on the game by
the author of the "The Chess-Player's Hand-
book," will be issued to the trade on Satur-
day next, the 29th.
ILN; March 2, 1850: JTC Patteries - "The
new Staunton Chess-men made in Carrara
are not allowed to be sold without the label
on the bottom of the box in which they are
contained."
ILN; March 2, 1850: "The public should be
on their guard against some villainous imi-
tations of the Staunton Chess-men, which a
few inferior shops are attempting to palm
upon the unwary! Those which are genuine
cannot be sold without the label which we
have so often described on the outside bot-
tom of the box."
ILN; April 27, 1850: Belgravia - The
"Staunton Chess-men" in the beautiful mate-
rial called "Carrara" are manufactured at
Messrs. Wedgwood's celebrated "Etruria" in
Staffordshire. They are available in London
at the Polytechnic Institute, and at 27 King
William street' Charing-cross."
ILN, Sept. 18. 1850: Pg 355. Clevis, Little
Britain - "We have no Doubt that you may
obtain "the Staunton Chessmen" in Ivory, In
Wedgwood Carrara, and in Box and Ebony,
at Mecchi's celebrated emporium, Leaden-
ball-street."
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Two additional ads with the Carrara Marble
Reference are shown below.
Since the ads for the Carrara chessmen only
appear for six months or so, it can be con-
cluded that these sets were not manufactured
in large quantities and that they were only
produced during the first year of the produc-
tion of the Staunton chessmen. It is not
known why production was discontinued.
However, several scenarios can be postu-
lated. First and most obvious is that the brit-
tle nature of this material precluded their be-
ing used for serious chess play, no doubt oc-
casioned by numerous pieces being returned
for repair or replacement. The material
would have been expensive to fabricate,
fragile and easily soiled - not an ideal en-
dorsement for a serious playing set. It is
hard to imagine that there was much demand
for playing chessmen in such a material. A
second possibility is that both Jaques and
Wedgwood wanted their mark on the chess-
men and couldn't find an acceptable com-
promise, so their production was discontin-
ued. The former would seem to be the most
compelling explanation.
Given the existence of the chessmen, the
Carton Pierre casket, the numbered manu-
facturer's label, along with identified retail-
ers and the numerous ads and the references
to Etruria, the Wedgwood factory in
Staffordshire, there is ample evidence to
support the thesis that not only were the Car-
rara chessmen advertized, they were pro-
duced and sold, albeit in small numbers, and
they were produced by Wedgwood in their
Staffordshire facilities.
JAQUES ROSEWOOD STAUNTON PIECES
Although conclusive evidence has been pre-
sented to prove the existence of the Carrara
chessmen, the question as to whether Jaques
also produced Rosewood Staunton chessmen
remains un-investigated. Mentions of this
have been omitted in the literature, likely
due to insufficient or hurried research. As a
result, the issue has never been subject to
study or informed debate. One simple,
though hardly rigorous, argument is that a
single example of a Jaques Rosewood
Staunton chessman has yet to be found. Nor
have any Jaques maker's labels been found
indicating that the chessmen were produced
in Boxwood and Rosewood. The question
arises with the discovery of ads offering
Jaques Rosewood Staunton chessmen which
appeared in the newspapers and elsewhere
for a few months in 1859. One such ad is
shown next. It appears in the Illustrated
London News of 16 October 1859 (page 364,
column 2). This ad was repeated in the same
newspaper on 22 October 1859 (page 388,
column 3), 5 November 1859 (page 453,
column 3) and again on 12 November 1859
(page 477, column 3).
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One question that should be addressed is
"How can you be sure that Jaques never pro-
duced Staunton Chessmen in rosewood if
you have not seen all of Jaques wooden
chessmen?" There are several good reasons
to believe that Jaques never produced and
marketed Rosewood Staunton chessmen.
First, none have ever been personally seen;
although many thousands of branded Jaques
wooden Staunton sets have been viewed by
numerous collectors over the years. Remem-
ber, Wedgwood Carrara pieces, which are
extremely rare, have now been seen. How-
ever, not a single Rosewood Jaques
Staunton chess piece has ever been found.
Without a hard example, the thesis that they
were produced is difficult to prove. Second,
aside from the single third party advertise-
ment referenced above, Jaques never adver-
tised Rosewood Staunton chessmen in their
catalogues or newspaper ads, nor did any
such references ever appear in either
Staunton's Chess-player's Text Book or Har-
riet Ingram Cooke's The ABCs of Chess. Fi-
nally, every pre-1862 Jaques Staunton label
seen to date has Ivory, Carrara or Boxwood
and Ebony printed on them. However, no
Jaques Staunton label has ever been seen by
the collector community with the words
Boxwood and Rosewood printed on them.
There is a plausible explanation for
this ad. Jaques did make Non-
Staunton sets from Rosewood (as did
other manufacturers), such as the
Calvert, Edinburgh and Saint George
Patterns. It might very well have been
the case that the writer of this ad sim-
ply made a mistake. Since Rosewood
was used in Jaques non-Staunton
lines appearing in ads for their chess-
men, the writer of this ad might sim-
ply have made the leap to Jaques' pro-
ducing Rosewood Staunton Chess-
men. Given the fact that no one has ever
seen a Rosewood Jaques pre-WWII set, the
simplest explanation is that this was an error
in the ad. Any relevant evidence proving or
disproving the existence of Jaques Rose-
wood Staunton chessmen would be a good
topic for future research on the subject.
CONCLUSION
Ample evidence has been presented to sup-
port the existence of the Carrara chessmen
and the assertion that they were produced by
Wedgwood at their Etruria facility in
Staffordshire in 1849. On the other hand,
there is absolutely no evidence aside from a
few questionable third-party ads, that Jaques
ever produced its Staunton pattern chessmen
in Rosewood.
Presented at the May 23 to May 26, 2013
Annual Meeting of the CCI-US in Baltimore,
MD. By Frank A. Camaratta, Jr.
@ Copyright, 2013, Frank A. Camaratta, Jr.
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