English Ivory Petal Chess Set, William Lund, ca. 1835-1845

An English chess set made by William Lund. The pieces are turned of ivory, one side natural, the other side stained red. King size is 8.5 cm. This is one of the rare sets with the Lund stamp on the underside of the white king. It reads "Willm. Lund Maker 24 Fleet Street". William Lund set up a manufactory and shop at 24 Fleet Street in London in 1835. The property had been purchased from William Anderson, a cutler and razor manufacturer, with whom William Lund had previously apprenticed. His father, Thomas Lund, had already founded his workshop and shop at 57 Cornhill, London, in 1804 and started making chess sets around 1815. Thomas and William initially ran their businesses independently. After Thomas Lund died in 1845, William additionally took over his father's business and at the same time expanded his own shop to include 23 Fleet Street. Since the stamp only names the address at 24 Fleet Street, I believe the set probably dates between 1835 and 1845.

The design of the pieces most likely goes back to John Calvert, who ran a workshop in 189 Fleet Street, where he was working from 1791 until his death in 1822. After his death, the Calvert business was then being run by his widow Dorothy until her death in 1840. Calvert made some sets of similar design in the early 19th century. Research by Jon Crumiller shows that the Calvert workshop and storefront windows at 189 Fleet Street were almost directly across the street from Lund's workshop in 24 Fleet Street. It is therefore more than likely that Lund was inspired by Calvert's design and made his own version of the set including his iconic Lund knights. Similar sets were subsequently also made by Merrifield and Jaques.

The design itself picks up elements known from Selenus sets, i.e. the galleries in the royal pieces - two for the king, one for the queen - and interprets them as floral petals, which is why this set is also referred to as "Petal" set or "Petal and Pistil" set.