In 1839, the year following John Jaques' expansion into their new Hatton Garden premises,John Jaques I recognised the need for a classic, simple design in chessmen; on one hand the excessively elaborate and therefore costly hand-carved reproductions of kings and queens enthroned in state, with every realistic detail which the mind of craftsmen unacquainted with court life could envisage; on the other hand, rudely turned and daubed pieces in which rank was indicated by height alone!
It was Nathaniel Cooke, proprietor of the 'Illustrated London News whose daughter later married John Jaques II, who originated a middle way in which the identity of each piece was made plain and could be reproduced with ease. The king was symbolised by a crown, the queen by a coronet, the bishop by a mitre, and so forth.
"But the greatest and most significant improvement is observable in the knight," commented the Morning Herald on 6th November 1849. "The rude, ugly and ill-cut caricature now in use is supplanted by an exquisite draft of the head of the Greek horse executed after the Elgin marbles...They may be viewed and judged as works of art, and as such challenge scrutiny."
Mr. Howard Staunton, one of the famous exponents of English school of chess, was so struck by the clarification achieved by these designs that he allowed his name and signature to authenticate every box of pieces.
The Staunton design soon became the standard design not just for England, but across the world. As JRJ Murray, notable authority on chess history remarked, "There are few chess players today who would care to use anything but the Staunton chessmen."
Today, a version of the John Jaques Staunton chess set is supplied to nearly all the world's National Chess Association, and used in virtual exclusivity for all international tournaments. |
