The true origin of this chess set's design seems to be a mystery. Nicholas Lanier called them "Svelte Pieces" and assumed these sets have Baltic-German roots, but it seems there is no conclusive evidence for that. Sometimes these sets are referred to as Soviet mushroom sets. What is certain is that these sets were well known in the Soviet Union. There is a famous picture by Robert Capa showing two boys playing with this type of set in a park in Moscow. The picture dates back to 1947, which makes me believe that the design is older and probably goes back to the 1930's. The set is weighted and has a king size of 10 cm.