Saturday, October 11, 2008

London

They constantly erect modern buildings next to grand and historical ones. The Tower of London looks like a puppet show decoration among the glass and concrete mountains.


Another example of this disgusting practice.


British humour?


Too bad that the 2-story buses are intended to be put out of use. They are fun to ride if you get a good place and great for sightseeing (and what a merry sight it is in the present case!)


Tourist items in 221B Baker Street (the Sherlock Holmes museum). One can see a horn Regence set often listed at eBay as vintage or antique among other brand new tourist chess sets. This one is interesting for two reasons. First, I did not have evidence that they are still producing them until today. Secondly, mind the White Knight with black base. Looks like something had gone wrong with either bleaching or staining process. They might make the both sides from one kind of horn after all, although the sets are usually listed as buffalo and cow horn. I do not know enough about that material to tell for sure but whatever the truth is, the piece on the picture does raise suspicions.

Mr. D. in action. The pictures are available at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/chessspy/BonhamsChessCards141008


Great.

Medieval bone playing pieces and dice exhibited in the Tower of London.



















A gorgeous rock crystal chess piece from the 11th century exhibited in the Tower of London.

6 comments:

kevin said...

I need help finding a very rare rook. I have pictures I can email. Set is from about 1972 and metal from Greece. Thank you for your time. Please help if you can.

Kevin s
Kevin.sturtevant@tevapharm.com

Blog Owner said...

No, sorry. I know nothing about modern sets.

Anonymous said...

I recently came across a set advertised as a Jaques - the white kind had the usual stamps but the two parts of the name were at 180 degrees from each other, have you ever encountered this? Love to get feedback - masterclass_english@yahoo.com.au

Anonymous said...

Hello!
My Dad was based in Okinawa in the 70s and I have just uncovered a chess set he brought back with him. I’m sure it’s worthless - but I would love to hear any insight you might have?

Blog Owner said...

Please feel free to post an address of the pictures.

Happy New Year!

Jorge Orellana Benado said...

Good morning
Perhaps you would be interested in this item? It is in perfect condition. It is the poster printed in Seville for the world championship between Kasparov and Karpov in 1987.
If you are interested you can contact me. I live near Paris.
Greetings