"Mick: I actually haven't touched this set for over a year. But thinking on your comment, I tend to agree with your analysis. However, I think the styling of the pieces, if we assume they're based off of a Jaques pattern, would mean the set was a copy of a Jaques that was manufactured roughly 25 years earlier . . ."

"I have just bought a very similar set. Looking at dating evidence (and assuming your box is contemporaneous) the Crimean War was 1853-1856 and was very unpopular at the end (ie not the sort of thing you might want to commemorate afterwards as a box/board maker) I think this period would be a reasonable dating for the set if the maker was aping then current Jaques production. have you had any more recent thoughts on dating?"

"I agree. When I put a "?" after some date, or fact, or say "I'm not sure" about something I've written, I'm hoping that someone will come along and, like here, say, "Hey, actually, that date is" or "what you've said isn't right...""

"Picasa is a great platfom for that; it's a shame that more information isn't shared in this fashion, as it's all to easy for any of us to get a wrong impression of something."

"Thanks for the link. I apprecaite all the comment on this photo. I had been laboring under the misconception that sets like these were non-English copies. It's nice to have input from fellow collectors."