Around 1750 the cafes of Paris were the place for serious chess. The most famous of these was the Cafe de la Regence. Francois-Andre Philidor, and Paul Morphy were frequent patrons, along with Jefferson and Napoleon, to name just a few. The cafe was so famous the contemporary style of chess set became known as French Regence or Regency sets its honor. The popularity of this style of set lived on through the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Of course they were replaced by the Staunton set when chess sets became standardized in that design, but the transition was gradual and Regence sets were slower to fall out of fashion than any other design. This is why, of all of the popular pre-Staunton designs (St. George, Barleycorn, Selenus, etc....,) Regence sets are the most common and easy to come by today. Twentieth century boxwood Regence sets are all over eBay at any given day. Don't let anyone tell you they are rare or 19th century. They are common. That does not make them any less beautiful, though. The design has a simple elegance about it. The shape, feel, and balance make them excellent for play. Benjamin Franklin famously owned a wooden Regence set with plain turned knights. That particular design is often referred to as the 'Franklin Set' in his honor.
What are the Mexican sets doing here? Mexico was occupied by France under Emperor Maximilian from 1864 to 1867. This brief reign resulted in a lifelong mark on Mexican chess sets. French Lyon sets inspired Mexicans to assemble wood and bone and the shape of many Mexican sets resemble early Regence sets. I have included a few French influenced Mexican sets in this section. The rest of my Mexican sets are in the Spanish Pulpit section.
I have eight Regence sets and one orphaned bishop.
