An early signed Calvert ivory chess set (incomplete) one side stained red, the white king, queen and one rook each stamped “Calvert 189 Fleet Stt”, lacking all pawns and the white bishops. In its original box, also stamped “Calvert 189 Fleet Stt”, and which is a/f.  C.1800.  Exhibited at the CCI exhibition at the V&A in June1986 and described and illustrated in Mark: British Chess Sets, exhibit 10.  Sold with a photocopy of the 2nd edition of British Chess Sets. Note: John Calvert worked from 189 Fleet Street in London from about 1790 until his death c.1825, after which his firm was taken over and run by his widow, Dorothy.  He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Turners in 1819.  The red interlining of the brickwork on the white rooks in this set, and the white lines on the red rooks, and the design of the knights indicate that this is a relatively early set and the stamping of three pieces with Calvert’s name is very unusual and suggests a degree of experimentation – Calvert was the first maker known to stamp his name on his sets in this way.