Turkey  (Other European)

Turkey. This playing set has clear influence of Régence sets, not to say it is a Régence set. I bought this set in a post located antique shop in Istanbul. The elder shop owner told me that he used to play with it from the 50ies on, when he was a child. I love this set because of the primitive way it has been made and the history it has.

Turkey has a long tradition of making abstract onyx chess sets for the tourist market. I have 2 examples. The 1st was a gift of someone in my street, who had bought it on a holiday in Turkey long ago. He didn't know exactly when, but it could be in 1975. The 2nd one was a gift of a boyfriend of one of my daughters. He had just bought it for me in 2004. In almost 30 years not much has changed, except for the packaging.