In London c. 1830 the St. George Chessclub, named for the patron Saint of England was one of the hot spots for chess in the world. English pieces at that time were often carved in a style of stacked disks. These became known as 'St. George' style chessmen in honor of the club. Like the Regence pieces, these were named ahistorically. Pieces like this were a common sight before the name was coined. Regence sets have their early ancestors, sets which look like Regence but aren't called by that name. Early versions of the St. George design are often called by the name 'Old English,' and the design itself is sometimes referred to as the 'St. George/Old English' design because of confusion and overlap among the similar styles. Dermot Rochford has an excellent article posted here which attempts to show differences between 'St. George' and earlier 'Old English' sets. But because the name 'Old English' is used to refer to so many other sets which happen to be old and English, I much prefer the use of the St. George label for all of the sets that resemble the St. George style, before or after they got their name around 1830. Most 'Lund style' sets are elaborate versions of the St. George design (Jon has some nice Lund sets,) so are Hastilow sets (Jon's Hastilow.) Calvert carved his share of sets in the St. George style, as did Jaques, before he made his mark on the world with the Staunton style. St. George sets are wonderfully balanced and quite practical for play. They rival Regence sets as the most popular pre-Staunton design.
I have a wooden St. George and an Anglo-Chinese soapstone set which shows a heavy enough influence I've included it here.
