A French chess set made around the turn of the century in the Régence pattern. The pieces with a king size of 10 cm are made of ivory, one side natural, the other side in red. All pieces are stored in a fitted box with slides for the bases holding the pieces in place during transport. Apart from the immaculate condition of the set, the knights are an immediate eye catcher. They are finely carved with reigns and glass eyes.

The Jon Crumiller collection features a similar set, which came in a box labelled with "Au Nain Bleu - Paris, 406, 408, 410 Rue St-Honoré, 1 et 3 Rue Richepance, Ancien: 27 Bd des Capucines". This refers to a famous toy store in Paris, which was established in 1836 by Jacques-Edouard Chauvière and his wife Louise. They named their enterprise "Au Nain Bleu", which is a reference to the card game "Nain Jaune" (Yellow Dwarf) and the blue colour of their first shop in 27 Boulevard des Capucines. At the beginning of the 20th century, the then owner George Fauvet relocated the shop to the corner of Rue St-Honoré and Rue Richepanse as shown on the pictures below (picture credit: Au Nain Bleu). The store still exists today with premises at 14 rue saint Roch.

The set also shows a certain similarity to sets retailed by Henri Delaire, which might indicate that both, Au Nain Bleu and Delaire, were supplied by the same maker.