The barleycorn motive is a popular decoration on chess sets from 1st half of 19th century in United Kingdom. Similar sets without decoration are called "Barleycorn" type as well. I follow this, although strictly spoken it isn't correct. The latter is also true for sets with an acanthus decoration (I do not have such in the collection). Some other comparable types like the "George Washington" or the "Ropetwist" sets are called "Barleycorn" by many. I treat them as separate types, see “George Washington” and “Ropetwist” pages. Even small playing sets and other sets are often, mistakenly, called "Barleycorn". See Other English sets page. German "Nuremberg" sets are often mistakenly seen as "Barleycorn". This is specially true for the bone ones, but not for the wooden ones. Maybe because English wooden "Barleycorn" sets do not exist as far as I know. I treat the German sets separately as well, see page “Nuremberg”.
Decorated
Plain