Burmese
 
  Ornate Staunton
 
  Vizagapatam
 
  Lund
 
  Northern Upright
 
  Macao
 
  Kashmir
 
  Flame Kashmir
 
  Muslim
 
  French Lyon
 
 

Antique Compendiums - Compendiums...Victorian Era...A bit of “History”
Those who are devotes of the "Victorian" "Gothic" type novels are most familiar with the games then popular in Great Britain.In many of the novels, Chess is played...even by the women...Vs the male love interest in the plot. Surprisingly, though these women were often called "blue stockings," they were judged "excellent" opponents by the men seated across the game board.

While most of the male aristocrats, the top 10,000 of the "ton" as it was called, gambled voraciously, cards also were available in the home. The game of Bezique, Whist, the forerunner of Bridge and Fortune Telling Cards were permissible and enjoyed. Included within the Games compendium was often a "Steeplechase” game, with metal horses and a playing board for the race. The board for Chess and Draughts was usually leather. Cribbage, Dominoes, Draughts were included and of course Chess was the highlight of the Compendium.
All were housed in a Wooden Box, often Burlwood or Mahogany.
The Compendium pictures appear as a courtesy to me from Andrew Vogel

 
 

 

 
  The Walnut Agate Compendium  
  FABULOUS Walnut Games Compendium with original burl walnut and agate exterior (H:6” W: 12.75” D: 9.25” ) Original leather and coromandel interior with ivory pieces. COMPLETE AND ORIGNAL THROUGHOUT!! By Bethel, Jacobs, and Hull by appointment to the Queen. Registered to 15 April 1869. Truly wonderful.  
     
  Partridge Wood Compendium  
  Rare Partridge Wood Compendium Lovely Victorian Games Compendium. Rare partridge Wood exterior with fitted leather interior Lovely hand-carved and stained ivory pieces, decks of cards, counters, 2 tumblers and die, and original leather two-sided game board, this Games Compendium is quite complete. The comprehensive Victorian entertainment center - it is all inside! You can play Chess, Checker, Backgammon, Dominoes, Cribbage, Bezique, Whist, and many other varieties of card games. All the pieces are there - enjoy! Condition: Exceptional
Year: 1890 Height: 6.75" Width: 13" Depth 9"

 
     
  Antique Tables  
  Some of the most beautiful antique tables…

William IV Penwork - Rarely seen in other than Black and White Circa 1830 2.25” Squares

 
     
  Regency 1810 Carved Rosewood with Faux painted Slate Top 2.5” Squares  
 
  Rosewood & Tortoise with Bronze Ormolu - Circa 1895 2.25” Squares Reversible Top  
 
  One of the Rarest and Most Important Chess Sets In the World
By Armfelt for Faberge
- Fabergé Chess Set Circa 1905
 
  Karl Gustav Hjalmar Armfelt (1873-1959) Fabergé, St. Petersburg

Aventurine quartz, Grey Kalgan Jasper, Silver; King: 8 Pawn: 4.5
Board: Siberian Jade, Pale Apricot Serpentine, Silver; 63.5 X 63.5 X 8

This exquisitely worked set, the only one known to have been produced by Fabergé, has the opposing sides made of tawny aventurine quartz and grey Kalgan jasper, standing on a silver framed board on which squares of Siberian jade alternate with pale apricot serpentine. The set was commissioned as a gift to General Alexei Kurapatkin, Commander-In-Chief of Russian forces during the ill-fated invasion of Manchuria in 1904.

Inscribed on the side of the board are the words: To warmly beloved and dear Commander Adjutant-General Alexei Nikolavich Kurapatkin in memory of Manchuria 1904-1905 – from those devoted and grateful to him.

It is said that Kurapatkin sank into a deep depression after the defeat of the Russian army at Mukden, consoled only by his love of chess.

In the wake of the February Revolution of 1917, Kurapatkin was arrested and sent to Petrograd but was subsequently released and permitted by the Provisional Government to move to the provinces, where he worked as a clerk. He died in Shemshurino, Pskov Region, in 1925.

 
 
 
Elizabeth Gann
Andrea Gann Devlin
Phone: 978.661.9081
Phone: 845.352.4612
Email: LizGann@ElizabethGann.com