Mexico  (Americas)

Mexico. The "Pulpit" sets from Mexico are rather common. Here are 3 examples of the "Classic Pulpit" style. The 1st from an chess auction at Bonhams, the 2nd from eBay and the 3rd from a fellow collector. They are composed of several pieces, often connected with a wooden pin. Mostly they are in bone, but 100% wooden sets are also known. The bone sets are almost always white and black, white and red or all white with one side having black bases. Actually the 1st set here did have red pieces once.There exist also a variation with faces.

I did have doubts about the dating of the sets. The Bonham's set was dated 1920, as was the set from eBay. I have seen one dated in the 60ies. The 3rd set here was originally bought in 1996 in Tijuana, Mexico, at the workshop were the sets were being made.

Josh gave on 10-9-2025 a comment with this studio still picture from the 1949 Bogart film “Knock on Any Door.” It seems likely the set was fairly available in Hollywood at the time. So a date of the 1940’s for that version seems reasonable. Before this info I did believe that the sets were produced somewhere in the 2nd half of the 20th century and did not believe that the production of these very similar sets goes that far, 1920, back in history. Also because the huge amount of sets that are offered. But obviously are these sets made during a long period.

Mexico. These Onyx "Aztec" chess sets are very common and appear in several sizes and colours. Normally there is a matching board, but not this time. There is a stone board with unknown origin, which fits the 2nd set here very well, so I made the marriage.

Mexico. Simple set of the "Tarascan" cut - so called because made principally by Tarascan Indians in central Mexico. These sets are assembled from turned wooden bases, and bone toppings.

A "Tarascan Indian" is a person of the Purepecha people. Today there are 140,000 of them and they live in central Mexico. They are different from the Nahua, the people of the Aztecs.

Mexico. The "Upright", or "Bone Upright" sets are another well known Mexican type. They are made of wood with bone decorations, similar as the "Tarascan" types, which permits to speculate that all wood/bone sets might be made in the same workshops, in the Tarascan area or beyond. That may be true for the "Pulpit" sets as well, as the Knights are very similar.