Wow, this is a very nice acquisition.
What's better than a vintage French Lardy set? Two vintage French Lardy sets.
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I'm new to collecting chess sets and just bought this old set on Ebay. There was little information in the description but I really liked the look of the set and the way the Knights have worn over time. Do you think this is a Lardy set? Others on here seem to think it may be.
They're nicely weighted and the king is 3 1/4" (82mm)
shanefry wrote:
I'm new to collecting chess sets and just bought this old set on Ebay. There was little information in the description but I really liked the look of the set and the way the Knights have worn over time. Do you think this is a Lardy set? Others on here seem to think it may be.
They're nicely weighted and the king is 3 1/4" (82mm)
To my untrained eye, it sure does look like a Lardy.
Flat horizontal Knight head. Slightly upturned snooty nose. Big bulging coked out eyes on the top of the head. Queen's flat crown like a pie pan. Minus the cross, the Queen and King are close in height. And that LEAN... Sure, I'd be comfortable calling it a vintage Lardy.
Pawnerai wrote:
shanefry wrote:
I'm new to collecting chess sets and just bought this old set on Ebay. There was little information in the description but I really liked the look of the set and the way the Knights have worn over time. Do you think this is a Lardy set? Others on here seem to think it may be.
They're nicely weighted and the king is 3 1/4" (82mm)
To my untrained eye, it sure does look like a Lardy.
Flat horizontal Knight head. Slightly upturned snooty nose. Big bulging coked out eyes on the top of the head. Queen's flat crown like a pie pan. Minus the cross, the Queen and King are close in height. And that LEAN... Sure, I'd be comfortable calling it a vintage Lardy.
Thanks for the feedback Pawnerai...I'm learning a lot from the helpful folks on this forum.
SteveYorkie wrote:
He makes an interesting point about the queen being almost as tall as the king. I played with pieces like this at our club for years, and when I was looking for a new set recently, I found myself rejecting anything with a small queen - I want them to be as close to the king's shoulder as possible.
That's one of my many favored characteristics of Lardy. Close overall King/Queen height and equal collar heights. So progressive. Hah! Below are pics comparing this 4.125 Lardy to a 4.125 (plastic) Staunton.
Sep 5, 2023
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#9
Bought these giant pieces of an old man years ago, the king measures 120 mm
I once had the 1974 Olympiad Lardy set. Standard, mediocre quality "tète simple" set, nothing special about it. The second set looks nicer.
An absolute beauty of a chess set. Great acquisistion.
Exactly! 2 are always better than 1. And, when you have both representing different backstories (or vintage points), it's a great acquisition.
Interesting. You got a great collection. Do you have more chess sets other than these vintage French Lardy?
The first Lardy set is a 3.75" King, 1974 Olympiad set. Every time I look at it, it surprises me how fine and delicate the sculpting is. So very French.
The second Lardy set is a 4.125" King, set from the 40s/50s. It looks like it's been rarely played with. The box even has its original tissue paper inside. It's taken roughly 75 years for it to find its way to me. It is BEEFY. It makes that satisfying clunk when the pieces knock into each other during a capture.
Two quick pics below.