The 10 Best Antique Chess Sets to Collect in 2027

1. Isle of Lewis Chessmen

This ranks first because no other chess artifact combines comparable age, fame, and price. The 93 surviving pieces were carved from walrus ivory and whale teeth around 1150-1200 AD, with 78 held at the British Museum and 11 at the National Museum of Scotland. A single warder sold at Sotheby's in 2019 for £735,000, a world record for one chess piece. Only four pieces are privately owned.

This suits institutional buyers and the ultra-wealthy, not working collectors. The trade-off is brutal liquidity: pieces surface at auction perhaps once a decade, and Scotland treats them as national treasures, which complicates export. Against the Jaques Staunton sets ranked below, the Lewis pieces offer far deeper history and media recognition but no realistic entry point. Budget six figures minimum for a single piece.

2. Jaques of London Staunton Set

This holds second place because it pairs genuine historical weight with a market a real collector can enter. Jaques of London manufactured the Staunton pattern from 1849 to Nathaniel Cook's design, making it the ancestor of every tournament set in use today. Complete boxwood and ebony sets from the 1850s-1890s with the original Jaques stamp and box trade at £2,000-£8,000, with exceptional examples exceeding £50,000.

This is the pick for a collector who wants an asset that resells. It trades away exoticism: the design is familiar rather than visually striking, and later-period sets are common enough to cap upside. Compared with the Isle of Lewis pieces above, it gives up historical rarity entirely but returns the deepest comp data and the most reliable auction liquidity in the category. Verify the stamp and red-stained interior.

3. Bundi Ivory Chess Set

This ranks third on craftsmanship alone. Sets from the Mughal and Rajput courts of Bundi, Mysore, and Jaipur, made in the 18th and 19th centuries, carve pieces as elephants, horses, and courtiers in ivory and sandalwood. The finest Bundi examples command £20,000-£100,000 at Christie's, with the broader Indian category opening around £1,000. Miniature carving quality on the top examples exceeds anything else on this list.

This fits collectors who also buy Asian decorative art, since crossover demand supports prices. The trade-away is legal friction: CITES restricts elephant ivory traded after 1975, so only pre-1975 sets with documented provenance move cleanly, and some countries block resale outright. Against the Jaques sets above, the ceiling is higher and the paperwork burden far heavier. Buy documentation first, set second.

4. Safavid Persian Miniature Set

Fourth place reflects exceptional artistry constrained by a thin buyer pool. These 17th-19th century Persian and Mughal sets are small, densely detailed pieces carved as animals, soldiers, and court figures, often on a board that folds into its own storage box. Safavid-era examples with lacquer work and geometric inlay draw the strongest bids, typically £5,000-£80,000. Only a few hundred survive in collectible condition.

This is a specialist's purchase, usually bought through Islamic art sales rather than chess auctions. It trades away liquidity and price transparency, and fakes are common enough that expert authentication is mandatory before money moves. Compared with the Indian ivory sets ranked above, the pieces are smaller and rarer but attract fewer competing bidders, which flattens resale. Expect long holding periods.

5. Erzgebirge Barley Twist Set

This lands mid-list because the value-per-pound is the best on the board. Named for their spiral-turned stems, these German folk-art sets came out of the Erzgebirge region in the 18th and 19th centuries in maple and walnut. A complete set in good condition with the original board and matching box runs £1,000-£3,000, with the auction range spanning £500-£10,000. Prices have stayed stable rather than spiking.

This is the sensible first antique set for a new collector. It trades away prestige: no famous maker, no record sales, and no institutional demand pulling prices up. Against the Persian miniatures above, it offers far less artistry but an entry cost roughly one-tenth as high and a market you can actually buy into repeatedly. Folk-art collectors are steadily broadening the bidder base.

6. French Regency-Style Chess Set

Sixth place reflects strong looks and a decent but narrower market. These 18th and 19th century French sets from the Louis XVI and Empire periods use slim pieces with fluted columns and turned finials in boxwood, ebony, and ivory. They carried the salon and cafe chess culture of the period. Auction results typically run £2,000-£30,000, with the best ivory examples clearing £15,000.

This appeals as much to interior designers and French decorative-arts buyers as to chess collectors, which widens demand but makes pricing style-dependent. It trades away the resale certainty of a stamped maker's set. Compared with the barley twist sets above, presentation is considerably more refined and the price roughly five times higher, while liquidity sits well below the Jaques Staunton market. Ivory examples face the same CITES paperwork.

7. Qing Jade Xiangqi Set

Seventh place balances superb materials against a narrow Western audience. These Chinese sets, made from the 18th through 20th centuries for Xiangqi rather than Western chess, use carved jade or cloisonne enamel with pieces representing generals, warriors, and chariots. Qing dynasty jade examples sell in the £20,000-£50,000 band at Christie's, with the broader category starting near £3,000. Many trace back to imperial collections.

This belongs with collectors of Chinese art or jade rather than chess specialists, since the game itself differs from Western chess. It trades away the crossover demand that supports the Indian and Persian sets, leaving a niche within a niche. Against the French Regency sets above, material quality is higher and the bidder pool smaller and more geographically concentrated. Jade grading matters more than chess provenance here.

8. Kholmogory Bone Chess Set

This ranks eighth because it solves the ivory problem other sets create. Kholmogory carvers in northern Russia worked mammoth ivory, bone, and wood into chess pieces covered in floral and geometric patterning through the 18th and 19th centuries. Mammoth ivory sits outside CITES restrictions, so these move legally where elephant ivory cannot. Nineteenth-century complete sets in original boxes fetch £5,000-£15,000 against a £1,000-£20,000 range.

This suits a collector who wants carved ivory work without a compliance file. It trades away breadth of demand, since buyers are concentrated among Russian art specialists and the auction calendar is thin. Compared with the Qing jade sets above, entry pricing is gentler and the legal path cleaner, but the ceiling is roughly a third as high. Confirm the material is mammoth, not elephant.

9. Arts and Crafts Chess Set

Ninth place reflects real design value undercut by almost no trading volume. These late 19th and early 20th century English sets came from the Arts and Crafts movement, executed in oak, pewter, and ceramic with the stylized geometry the movement is known for. Production ran in small batches, so complete surviving sets are scarce. A documented set by a recognized maker sells in the £3,000-£8,000 range, with the category opening near £500.

This is for design collectors who happen to play, not investors seeking exit liquidity. It trades away comp depth entirely: only a handful of examples change hands each year, so pricing is negotiated rather than established. Against the Kholmogory sets above, the material is humbler and the design pedigree stronger. Attribution to a named maker drives most of the value, so demand documentation.

10. Viking-Era Gaming Pieces

This closes the list because acquiring it is genuinely difficult. These 10th-12th century Scandinavian bone, antler, and wood pieces come from hnefatafl and related tafl games that predate chess rather than from chess itself. Only a few dozen complete sets are known, most recovered archaeologically. A set of Viking-era gaming pieces sold at Bonhams in 2021 for £45,000, within a £5,000-£50,000 typical band.

This suits antiquities collectors comfortable with archaeological paperwork, not chess collectors building a playing collection. It trades away everything convenient: buyers need documented excavation provenance and export licenses, and unprovenanced material is effectively unsellable. Compared with the Arts and Crafts sets above, the historical weight is far greater and the transaction risk far higher. These are game pieces adjacent to chess, not chess sets proper.

How we ranked these

Ranking weighted six measurable inputs: auction liquidity and comparable depth across Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams (25%), long-term price stability across a 10–20 year window rather than one outlier hammer (20%), historical significance and crossover museum demand (20%), rarity and condition including completeness of pieces and original boards (15%), authentication confidence through Chess Collectors International and curatorial expertise (10%), and entry-point accessibility for buyers without six figures (10%).

Deliberately ignored: dealer asking prices, which bear little relation to realized hammer results and inflate perceived value. Also excluded were reproduction and reissue sets, however finely made, since they carry no antique premium. Sold-listing noise from unauthenticated marketplace channels was set aside entirely, as was short-term hype from television-driven interest, which moves attention faster than it moves durable price floors on genuinely scarce material.

What to look for

Condition and completeness decide value more than age. A 19th-century Jaques Staunton with all 32 pieces, the original stamped king, red-stained interiors and its leather-bound box is worth several times a handsome but incomplete example. Provenance paperwork matters as much on ivory: pre-1975 documentation under CITES determines whether a set can legally cross a border at all, and mammoth ivory sits under different rules than elephant.

The common mistake is buying the look rather than the record. Buyers fall for patina and carving detail, then discover the set has no maker's mark, no auction comps, and no resale route. Check realized prices for near-identical examples before bidding, not asking prices. Replacement pieces, re-turned finials and modern boards quietly erase most of the premium, and they are far easier to spot before purchase than after.

Related questions

Why did a single Isle of Lewis piece sell for £735,000?

The warder sold at Sotheby's in 2019 after decades in a family drawer, unrecognized. Its price reflects extreme scarcity — only 93 pieces survive, and 89 are institutionally held by the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland. With four pieces privately owned, any market appearance is effectively a once-in-a-generation event, and bidders price accordingly.

What makes the Staunton pattern the standard for modern chess?

Nathaniel Cook designed it and Jaques of London manufactured it from 1849, deliberately using instantly distinguishable silhouettes rather than the regionally variable forms that preceded it. Tournament organizers adopted it because players could read a board at a glance. FIDE later codified it, which is why every serious competition set today descends from that 1849 design.

How do CITES rules affect buying antique ivory chess sets?

CITES restricts trade in elephant ivory, with 1975 as the practical dividing line. Pre-1975 material with documentation is often saleable domestically, but export and import rules vary sharply by country and some jurisdictions ban sales outright regardless of age. Mammoth ivory, from an extinct species, generally falls outside CITES and trades far more freely.

Is a Barley Twist set a sensible first antique purchase?

Yes, for most new collectors. These spiral-turned German folk sets from the Erzgebirge region sit at £500–£10,000, with complete good-condition examples commonly £1,000–£3,000. The market is stable, fakes are less profitable to produce at that price, and folk-art collectors provide a second buyer pool beyond chess specialists if you later resell.

Why do Chinese jade sets rank below their craftsmanship?

Ranking reflects market depth, not quality. Qing dynasty jade and cloisonné sets reach £20,000–£50,000 at Christie's, but many are made for Xiangqi rather than Western chess, narrowing the buyer pool to collectors of Chinese art and jade specifically. Exceptional objects with a thin bidding audience realize less than comparable Western material.

Are Viking-era gaming pieces actually chess sets?

Not strictly. Most 10th–12th century Scandinavian pieces come from hnefatafl or related tafl games that predate chess in the region and use entirely different rules. They matter as ancestral gaming material rather than chess proper. A set sold for £45,000 at Bonhams in 2021, but archaeological provenance and export licenses are non-negotiable.

What does the original box add to a Jaques set's value?

A great deal. The leather-bound or mahogany box confirms the set left the workshop as a unit and has not been assembled from parts, which is the single most common way antique Staunton sets get quietly padded. Complete boxed sets with the Jaques stamp reach £5,000–£15,000; comparable loose sets frequently sell for a fraction.

Which Indian regions produced the most collectible sets?

Bundi in Rajasthan is the benchmark, with Mysore and Jaipur close behind. Mughal and Rajput court workshops carved elephants, horses and courtiers in ivory and sandalwood at a level of miniature detail rarely matched elsewhere. The finest Bundi examples command £20,000–£100,000 at Christie's, though ivory content complicates cross-border sale considerably.

FAQ

What is the most expensive antique chess piece ever sold?

The Isle of Lewis warder that sold for £735,000 at Sotheby's in 2019, a world record for a single chess piece. No complete antique set has surpassed that per-piece figure. The remaining Lewis chessmen are held by the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland and are effectively priceless because they will not trade.

How do I authenticate an antique chess set before buying?

Check three things. Material first: genuine sets use boxwood, ebony, rosewood, bone or ivory, not resin. Then wear — authentic patina is even and handling-consistent, while artificial aging looks uniform or oddly patchy. Finally maker's marks, usually under the king's base or the board's underside. For high-value sets, get an auction house certificate.

Are antique chess sets a reliable investment?

Sets with strong provenance have performed well. The Jaques Staunton market has shown roughly 5–10% annual appreciation over 20 years, and Lewis-related material has risen sharply on media exposure. But liquidity varies enormously by category — Arts and Crafts and Viking-era pieces trade only a few times a year, which makes exit timing unpredictable.

What is a realistic budget for a serious first set?

£1,000–£3,000 buys a complete 19th-century German Barley Twist set or a late Victorian Jaques Staunton in honest condition. That range gets a documented antique with real comparable sales behind it. Below roughly £500 the market is dominated by reproductions and incomplete sets, and above £8,000 you should insist on formal authentication.

Why is mammoth ivory treated differently from elephant ivory?

Mammoths are extinct, so no living population is threatened by the trade and CITES does not cover the material. That makes Russian Kholmogory sets, often carved in mammoth ivory, considerably easier to buy, sell and ship internationally than comparable elephant-ivory work. Some individual jurisdictions still impose their own restrictions, so confirm local rules before shipping.

Where should I actually buy an antique chess set?

Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams give the strongest documentation and recourse. Specialist dealers such as Chess Bazaar sit a tier below with generally fair pricing. eBay carries real material but also the highest fake density, so treat unverified listings without provenance as untradeable regardless of how convincing the photographs look.

How should antique chess sets be stored and displayed?

Keep them in a climate-controlled space away from direct sunlight, which fades both wood and ivory. Dust with a soft dry cloth and never apply polish without testing an inconspicuous area first. Ivory and bone need moderate humidity or they crack. A felt-lined board or glass case cuts handling damage, and always lift pieces by the base.

What are the most common fakes in this market?

Persian and Mughal miniature sets attract the most convincing forgeries, because scarcity is high and few buyers have seen genuine Safavid lacquer work in person. Fake Jaques stamps are also widespread, applied to period-appropriate but unbranded English sets. Both categories reward expert examination before payment rather than a certificate obtained afterward.

Does condition or rarity matter more for resale?

Condition, in most categories. A common Staunton pattern in complete original condition outsells a rarer set with replaced pieces and a refinished board almost every time, because buyers can price condition confidently but must discount uncertainty. Rarity dominates only at the extreme top, where objects like the Lewis chessmen have no comparable substitute.

Did The Queen's Gambit change antique chess set prices?

It broadened the buyer pool noticeably, particularly for recognizable Staunton sets that look like what viewers saw on screen. That lifted the mid-market floor and shortened time-to-sale. The effect on genuinely scarce material like Lewis pieces or Bundi ivory was smaller, since those prices were already set by a small pool of specialist bidders.

Sources

• https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1831-1101-1
• https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/lewis-chessmen/
• https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/lewis-chessman-sells-for-735000
• https://www.christies.com/
• https://www.bonhams.com/
• https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php
• https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/LawsOfChess.pdf
• https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-history-of-chess
• https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468818
• https://www.fws.gov/story/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers

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