Lewis chessmen
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Wfm_lewis_chessmen.jpg
top: king, queen, bishop
middle: knight, rook, pawn
bottom: closeup of queen
The Lewis chessmen belong to one of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today.
The chessmen are believed to have been made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim, sometime during the 12th century. During that period the Hebrides, along with other major groups of Scottish islands, were ruled by Norway. Some historians believe that the Lewis chessmen were hidden (or lost) after some mishap occurred during their transportation from Norway to wealthy Norse settlements on the east coast of Ireland.
Almost all of the pieces in the collection are carved from walrus ivory, with a few made instead from whale teeth. The cache consists of 8 Kings, 8 Queens, 16 Bishops, 15 Knights, 12 Rooks, and 19 Pawns. All the pieces are sculptures of human figures, except the pawns (which are smaller, simple sculptures resembling carved gravestones). The knights are shown mounted (on rather diminutive horses) holding spears and shields, and all of the human figures have decidedly glum expressions (other than one rook, which is shown as a berserker, wild-eyed and biting his shield with battle fury).
The chessmen were discovered in 1831 in a sand bank at the head of the Bay of Uig on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, one of the Outer Hebrides. No contemporary account describing their discovery exists, but it is reported that they were found in a small chamber of dry-built stone about 15 feet below the top of the sand bank.
They were exhibited by Roderick Ririe at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, on April 11, 1831. The chessmen were soon after split up, with 10 being purchased by Kirkpatrick Sharpe and the others (67 chessmen and 14 tablemen) were purchased on behalf of the British Museum.
Kirkpatrick Sharpe later found another Lewis chessman to take his collection up to eleven, all of which were later sold to Lord Londesborough. In 1888 they were again sold, but this time the purchaser was the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, who donated the pieces to the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.
The pieces donated to the British Museum are still located there, and can be found in Room 42 with the exhibition code M&ME 1831,11-1.
The distinctive style of the Lewis cache inspired the animated series Noggin the Nog.
UigChessmen_SelectionOfKings.jpg
UigChessmen_SelectionOfPieces.jpg
Bibliography
- N. Stratford, The Lewis chessmen and the enigma of the hoard (The British Museum Press, 1997)
- Michael Taylor, The Lewis Chessmen (British Museum Publications Limited)
- HJR Murray, A History of Chess (Oxford University Press)
External links
- The British Museum's page on the chessmen (http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ566)
- Chez.com's page on the chessmen (http://history.chess.free.fr/lewis.htm)