Staunton chess set

One theory of the development of the set is that Cooke had used prestigious architectural concepts, familiar to an expanding class of educated and prosperous gentry.

[11] Another possibility is that Jaques, a master turner, had probably been experimenting with a design that not only would be accepted by players but also could be produced at a reasonable cost.

In the end, he most likely borrowed and synthesized elements from sets already available to create a new design that used universally recognizable symbols atop conventional stems and bases: The resulting pieces were compact, well balanced, and weighted to provide an understandable, practical playing set.

The king sizes ranged from 3½ to 4½ inches (88 to 114 millimeters) to and the sets typically came in a papier-mâché case, each one bearing a facsimile of Staunton's signature under the lid.

Queens are slightly smaller than kings, and feature a coronet topped with a tiny ball (a monde).

Pieces representing human characters (the king, queen, bishop, and pawn) have a flat disk separating the body from the head design, which is known as a collar.

The ”Staunton Chess-men.” - We have lately been favoured with a sight of the newly-designed Chess-men you speak of, and shall be greatly mistaken if, in a very short time, these beautiful pieces do not entirely supersede the ungainly, inexpressive ones we have been hitherto contented with.

In the simplicity and elegance of their form, combining apparent lightness with real solidity, in the nicety of their proportions one with another, so that in the most intricate positions every piece stands out distinctively, neither hidden nor overshadowed by its fellows, the ”Staunton Chess-men” are incomparably superior to any others we have ever seen.Staunton not only endorsed the product for Jaques of London but promoted it to an extraordinary degree including the lambasting and derision of any other design of chessmen then proposed.

Similarly many Soviet chess sets such as Latvian and Baku designs did not have the king's cross or bishop's mitre.

[3] Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing wrote that, "if a vote were taken among chess-players as to which pieces they most enjoyed playing with, there can be no doubt that the Staunton chessmen would win by an overwhelming margin.

[16]: 88 Wooden Staunton chess sets were often turned on a lathe, then non-circular details were added by hand; the knights were made in two parts (head and base) which were stuck together with adhesive.