Designer: Anne Carlton (Finestein)

Item: Satellite Chess Set

Manufactured by: Studio Anne Carlton Ltd

Country of origin: England

Year made: Circa 1978

Materials: Extruded and machined aluminum with felt bottoms.

Dimensions: Tallest piece (King) is 4” high and the shortest piece (Pawn) is 1 ¾” high. All pieces are ¾” square.

Condition: Excellent. A few very small specs where the black anodized finish has come off and some light age-related discoloration on some of the un-anodized pieces as shown.

Description: Here is an outstanding modernist handmade aluminum chess set by Studio Anne Carlton Ltd, in Hull, England. Studio Anne Carlton was founded in about 1969 by Anne Carlton Finestein after she produced a chess set for her architect husband who was an avid chess player. That set was greatly admired by her husband’s friends who then requested she make sets for them. The firm was established and they only produced chess sets and boards, and almost exclusively very traditional chess set designs, making this an outlier. The firm was sold in about 1982 and is still in business.

This is a rare set and we have only seen a couple of other examples. One of those examples retained its original box and papers, which helped us identify and date this set. Based on that documentation it appears this set was first introduced about 1978 and likely only made until about 1981, and most likely very few sets were produced.