The pieces indeed were wood and bone. As the board that the pieces came with looked rather dirty and dull, my initial thought was to create a new board for the pieces, possibly along some animal theme.
As I was curious as to where and when it could have been made, I posted the picture on the Chess Collectors Facebook group. Very quickly, several group members identified it as a Mexican pulpit set, made in the 1960s and 1970s.
Knowing a bit more about it, and being made aware it's roughly half a century old, I felt I ought to keep pieces and board together. So I cleaned up the board as best I could, and treated it with walnut oil. The 'before' and 'after' pictures don't quite capture it, but the oil really brought the grain to the fore and made the board come alive again!
So here it is, my first 'vintage' chess set!
Possibly the start of a wee side collection of vintage chess sets and pieces?
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