*SOLD* Capulinum Tempi (Coffee Time); Vintage Polish/Austrian Style Wooden Chess Set, circa 1960

Capulinum Tempi (Coffee Time); 32 lightly-weighted chessmen without board, wood, light brown v. dark brown, Polish/Regence, circa 1960 Height: Kings 6.8cm, 6.4cm, wt. 18g base width 2.5cm, Queens 6.8cm, 6.4cm, Bishops 6.5cm, Knights 6.1cm, Rooks 5.5cm, pawns 4.3cm. W: light blue antiqued felt bases B: same

A seldom-seen Polish design and exceptional medium-sized analysis set, heavily influenced by the popular Regence style of eighteenth century France with the characteristic urn-shaped bases. In Napoleonic Europe, the French Empire and the Austrian Empire shared a border separated by the Confederation of the Rhine therefore influences in design during this period were very close between the two nations, some of which obviously carried over into the following century.

For analysis, especially, the pieces are a delight to handle and rarely do you find a set of this quality that is perfectly weighted for either running over the classic games of the renowned Austrian masters of yesteryear (Spielmann and Steinitz spring to mind!) or the day-to-day basics of endgame theory – and the former is more fun, believe me!

This particular set is finished in Danish Oil which lends the pieces a wonderful feel in hand and gives them a distinct and comforting aroma too. A hard set to let go of. Note: There are some ‘turning’ differences within the set (the white royals are a few millimetres taller than the black), which is common to the period – let’s just be glad it survived the twentieth century intact! 

Ref code CT20