"chess set", "chess sets", "chess pieces", "chess museum", "schaak"
 

Austria

Austria. This antique set from Austria is old, but the exact age is unknown. It is possible that they have been made in 18th century. Who can tell me? Curious is that this set did have 2 sets of pawns. On the other side: it is missing a dark Knight. Rather some damages as well. It came in  a nice shaker box for tin figures.

« of 9 »
  • Austria
  • Early 19th century or older
  • Wood K 7.7; p 1.9-2.4
  • Shaker Box 13.7×9.7×6.7

Austria. This set has one newly made white pawn, some little repairs and damages as well. The box looks German to me. I doubt whether it is original to the set, or the set is German? It has been bought in Vienna, but that does not say it is Austrian necessarily.

« of 7 »
  • Austria or Germany? "Selenus"
  • Early 19th century or older
  • Wood K 7.2; p 5.0
  • Box 11.9×10.7×8.5

Austria. Unfortunately this Austrian "Selenus" set is not in a very good shape. It could have some replaced pieces as well. Nevertheless it is an interesting set with distinctive Kings, Queens and Bishops. The latter once had feathers, a feature you also see in "Biedermeier Coffeehouse" sets.

« of 5 »
  • Austria, "Selenus"
  • Early 19th century or older
  • Bone K 9.6; p 4.3
  • Box 13.2×10.0×7.0

Austria. "Biedermeier Coffeehouse" sets are called so because they were made in and around the Biedermeier period, an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848.
Very little, if anything at all, is known of Austrian "Biedermeier Coffeehouse" chess set makers in the 19th century. But recently (2016) I did some research on Adolf Dreher, which name is on a sticker inside a box with a "Biedermeier Coffeehouse" set I do own for several years already. See the last set listed, with Bishops wearing a top hat. I found the name and the address on several old papers and "Curlisten".fremdenfuhrer_1852_01_01_u For example, he acted as a broker in this advert on page 6 of the "Fremden-Blatt" of Do, 1. Januar 1852. He owned a "Drechselwaaren-Niederlage" (turner shop) at that time. The address "große Schulenstraße Nr. 863" does not exist any more. In 1862 the continuous numbering of houses was abandoned and changed in a numbering per street. Some streets were renamed as well.

I found his name also on several "Curlisten" like this one of 1853, curlisten_bad_ischl_1853_06_24_c where he is mentioned as "Drechsler" (turner). By the way: "Dreher" means the same. Later I found references in 1855 as "Privat" (private). In the "Curlisten" you find many "Kaufman" (retailer), but also higher ranked military or even nobility. He was apparently well-heeled.

Finally I found in “Fremden-Blatt” of April 1, 1868 his name in a list of people passed away in the period of March 26 to 28, stating he died of a lung-oedema at age of 47, being a “Mithausbesitzer” (rental owner) with address Praterstraße 25.

« of 5 »
  • Austria, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Boxwood + pear? K 7.5; p 4.1
  • Box/board 26.5×13.5×6.0 (closed)
« of 5 »
  • Austria, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Wood K 6.7; p 3.9
  • Box/board 26.7×13.1×6.0
« of 4 »
  • Austria, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Bone K 4.7; p 3.1
« of 4 »
  • Austria, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Wood K 7.7; p 3.9
« of 7 »
  • Austria, "Biedemeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Boxwood + pear? K 8.2; p 5.0
  • Box/board 29.3×14.5×5.8 (closed)
« of 5 »
  • Austria, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 19th century
  • Wood K 12.3; p 7.2
  • Shaker box 22.4×18.2×12.4
« of 6 »
  • Austria, Vienna, by Adolf Dreher, "Biedermeier coffeehouse"
  • Mid 19th century
  • Boxwood + pear? K 11.4; p 6.9
  • Box/board 39.5×39.5×3.9 (open)
  • Label inside board

Austria. This compendium, which is most likely from Vienna, contains a very nice "Coffeehouse" set with board. Further it has a 45 pieces domino set made of bone and ebony as well as a 2x16 counters set of wood. Some counters replaced. There are 4 little boxes with card suits shields and 4 cups. No other things. I have added a double Vienna card set of more recent date. Nice feature is that a spring will lift up the chess set when you open the box!

« of 10 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse" compendium
  • ca. 1900
  • Wood K 6.1; p 2.9
  • Box 34.0×25.0×12.6
  • Board 23.7×13.1×3.1 (closed)

Austria. This Coffeehouse set is from Vienna. It is very rare to have urns on the bishops. I would consider this the "missing link" between Biedermeier proper and Old Vienna style. Absolutely the best and most interesting set of this group, in spite of its damage.

« of 3 »
  • Austria, Vienna, "coffeehouse"
  • ca. 1900
  • Boxwood? K 8.4; p 3.7

Austria. These 2 sets are normal Vienna coffeehouse sets, but any of them could have been made in Borstendorf. The 1st of these 2 sets was purchased in Vienna and the 2nd at eBay from a German seller in Pulheim. The latter came in a peculiar carton box with a logo consisting of a triangle with "PWS" in it and the text "Echt englische Schach-Figuren Nr. 1". No idea what the logo means. There existed a pipe making company named "Philipp Weiss & Söhne" in Vienna, but I could not link the logo to that company. I doubt if that box is original to he set as well, because the description is weird for a Vienna coffeehouse set.

« of 4 »
  • Austria, Vienna, "coffeehouse"
  • Early 20th century
  • Wood K 7.3; p 3.3
  • Could have been made in Borstendorf as well
« of 5 »
  • Austria, Vienna, "coffeehouse"
  • 1st half 20th century
  • Maple K 7.4; p 3.5
  • Box 14.4×8.4×6.9 (most likely not original to set)
  • Could have been made in Borstendorf as well

Austria. This is a series of 6 early plastic sets. Some, or all, are made of Galalith. Pieces of that material have been turned and cut like the wooden and bone pieces of that time. If you take a close look at the pictures you can see the marks of the turning on these pieces. It was not possible to use moulds with Galalith. One or two of the sets may be Catalin or another plastic. Catalin requires pieces individually polished. The small size suggests they were made for game sets or for compendiums.

The first 2 sets in the list are part of a nice wooden casket compendium with pieces that have holes in the bottom, in order to fit over pins on box and doors or the tray that can be used to lift them out the box. One could think that motivation for using plastic is always making it cheaper to produce and improving the commercial margin. That is true for later polymer plastic, which easily could be made in moulds without later additional work. But I believe that wasn't the reason for using Galalith or Catalin. The amount of work with these material is as much as with wood or bone, and I do not believe that the material was cheaper. In contrary! Another indication is that these sets, in spite of the amount you see here, are extremely rare and seldom offered on the market. This is particular true for the small travel set you see here.

Condition of these sets is good, but there are some missing pieces: 2nd set misses black pawn (replaced by white wooden!), 5th set misses red Knight (replaced by wooden) an 6th set misses white rook and 3 white pawns.

« of 4 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse" compendium
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith K 5.0; p 2.8
  • Box 32.7×23.7×13.0
  • Board 26.5×26.0
« of 4 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse" compendium
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith K 5.5; p 2.9
  • Box 37.5×21.3×11.9
  • Board 29.0×28.8×1.1
« of 5 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse"
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith K 5.8; p 3.0
  • Box 14.9×12.0×5.9
« of 7 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse"
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith K 2.8; p 1.4 (without pin)
  • Box/board 12.8×6.4×3.1 (closed)
« of 3 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse"
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith? K 5.8; p 2.9
« of 4 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse"
  • Early 20th century
  • Galalith? K 4.3; p 2.6

Austria. Striated bishops balls are typical on Viennese sets. Also the size is typical for sets used in the coffee-houses in Vienna. I believe these sets were in use in the coffee-houses till the mid 60ies of the 20th century.

« of 4 »
  • Austria, Vienna, large "coffeehouse"
  • 1932 (date in box)
  • Wood K 10.2; p 5.3
  • Original box/board 41.5×20.8×6.4

Austria. The last set is a post war Nekvasil set with the unspeakably primitive knights, made for coffeehouse use or as part of a compendium, considering the size and the fact that pieces have a hole in the bottom.

« of 4 »
  • Austria, Vienna, by Nekvasil, "coffeehouse"
  • Mid 20th century
  • Wood K 7.0; p 3.5
  • Likely this set is of a compendium

Austria. The archetype of the "Austrian Upright" is the Schlechter-Lasker (or Lasker-Schlechter!) chess set. The 1st set listed here is almost identical to the one used in the match. It is weighted and may have a slight size deviation. The 2nd set is a nice derivative. It is not known where these derived sets were made. Although they crop up in Austria, some say that they do not originate there. Also that they are not made in Czechia, and unlikely in Hungary. That would leave Russia as origin. However, the original Schlechter-Lasker set was made by a joinery of Hungarian turners in Vienna. And considering the similarity of both sets, it is most likely that they have been made in the same workshop. Also Nicholas Lanier says that the sets originate in Austria, but he means not the minimal Austria of today, but the larger Austria of the days of the Habsburg Empire!

« of 7 »
  • Austria, "Austrian Upright", "Lasker-Schlechter set"
  • ca. 1910
  • Wood K 12.0; p 5.2
  • Box 21.9×21.6×9.3
« of 3 »
  • Austria, "Austrian Upright"
  • ca. 1910
  • Boxwood? K 12.2; p 5.5

Original Schlechter-Lasker chess set. Georg Marco, organizer of the Rothschild sponsored Wiener Schachclub, ordered a special chess table with good chessmen from a reputable joinery and turnery which seems to have been named Faludy or Kisfaludy, Hungarian names quite current in Vienna then as now. This is the famous Schlechter-Lasker chess set, which has survived two World Wars and provides the best known specimen of the Austrian Uprights. The set was used in Vienna, where the 1st half of the match was played. The 2nd half was played in Berlin with "Staunton" pieces. The table in the picture could be of that event. Table and set are kept by the Lasker Society in Berlin.

 


Austria. This "Régence" set has been made in an unusual way. For instance, the Bishop has 8 parts, with stem parts having both inner and outer threads and the ball in two parts. There is a picture of the Bishop dismantled, however you see only 7 parts because I could not unscrew the 2 parts of the base. Origin is unsure. I bought the set in Vienna, but other say the set has been made by Uhlig.

« of 4 »
  • Austria or Germany? "Régence"
  • Early 20th century
  • Bone K 8.8; p 4.5
  • Set is bought in Austria, but some say it is Uhlig

Austria. The small Galalith Travel set is extremely rare, but the other travel set is extremely common, although the box is seldom present. Of the latter I do have a set from the Netherlands as well. See Travel (Netherlands) page.

« of 7 »
  • Austria, "coffeehouse"
  • ca. 1920
  • Galalith K 2.8; p 1.4 (without pin)
  • Box/board 12.8×6.4×3.1 (closed)
  • Austria, by Peri
  • 1980
  • Plastic K 1.4; p 1.4
  • Box/board 15.3×10.3×2.4