Large Mexican Onyx

- Large Mexican Onyx -

Another example of the effect of French occupation on local chess sets, here is a Mexican set with pieces that closely resemble the Regency style in shape. These comes in two sizes. This is the larger version with 2.5" kings. Quality of carving varies across the board with both sizes depending who carved the set, when, and where. All of these sets are similar, but they are hand made by several different carvers/turners and they are hit or miss on detail. I've seen a few large sets of higher quality than this one, but I've seen many lower quality sets as well, and I don't feel I have a bad example here. Often with sets of this size, the piece which is the queen here is adorned by a Staunton king's cross or other finial making her into the king. At that point the piece with the floral crown is the queen. French kings always were a little effeminate with their puffy floral crowns. But seriously, as the crosses are glued in, often poorly, and they confuse the piece signatures as the other pieces continue to resemble Regency pieces but the king has a cross and the queen has a crown. I much prefer unadorned sets like this one. This set cost me almost nothing and I would estimate its value at about that. The market is saturated with these on any given eBay day. A patient buyer should have no problem getting one of these for just a few dollars. And if you're willing to spend about fifty, you could probably get one at whatever instant you happen to be reading this sentence (unless the market has changed considerable since I've written this. At the moment chess sets in general are a good investment as prices are on the rise. I'd doubt much will change with these onyx sets for a long time, but of course I'd be happy if it did.) Whatever the price, I think they are beautiful sets. This one is carved from white onyx and grey marble. The white pieces have a particularly interesting look and feel, like some kind of rough waxy crystal.