Editing Lewis chessmen

{{short description|Group of 12th-century chess pieces}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox artifact
| name              = Lewis chessmen
| image             = [[File:UigChessmen SelectionOfKings.jpg|360px]]
| image2            = 
| image_caption     = Lewis chessmen in the [[British Museum]]
| material          = [[Walrus]] [[ivory]] and whales' teeth
| size              = 
| writing           = 
| created           = 12th century
| discovered_place  = [[Uig, Lewis]], Scotland
| discovered_coords = 
| discovered_date   = 1831
| discovered_by     = 
| location          = {{unbulleted list|[[British Museum]]|[[National Museum of Scotland]]}}
| website=[https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/lewis-chess-pieces/ NMS website entry]
}}

The '''Lewis chessmen''' ({{langx|gd|Fir-thàilisg Leòdhais}} {{IPA|gd|fiɾʲˈhaːlɪʃkʲ loː.ɪʃ|}}) or '''Uig chessmen''', named after the island or the [[Uig, Lewis|bay]] where they were found,<ref>{{cite web |title = Comann Eachdraidh Ùig |lang = gd |trans-title=Uig chessmen |website=Ceuig.co.uk |url=http://www.ceuig.co.uk/uig-chessmen/ |access-date=2017-03-24}}</ref> are a group of distinctive 12th-century [[chess]] pieces, along with other game pieces, most of which are carved from [[walrus ivory]]. Discovered in 1831 on the [[Isle of Lewis]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]] of [[Scotland]],<ref>{{cite news |title = The enigma of the Lewis chessmen |website = Chessbase.com |date=9 November 2010 |url = http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6665 |access-date = 15 August 2013}}</ref> they may constitute some of the few complete, surviving [[medieval]] [[chess set]]s, although it is not clear if a single complete period-accurate set can be assembled from the pieces. When found, the hoard contained 94&nbsp;objects: 78&nbsp;chess pieces, 14&nbsp;[[Tables (board game)|tablemen]] (pieces for backgammon or similar games) and one belt buckle. Today, 82&nbsp;pieces are owned and usually exhibited by the [[British Museum]] in [[London]], and the remaining&nbsp;11 are at the [[National Museum of Scotland]] in [[Edinburgh]]; at least one chess piece is owned privately.<ref name=BBC-2019-06-48494885/><ref name=BBC-2019-07-48824712/>

A newly identified piece, a "warder", the equivalent of a rook, was sold for £735,000 in July 2019. Four other major pieces, and many pawns, remain missing from the chess sets.<ref name=BBC-2019-07-48824712>{{cite news |title=Lost Lewis Chessman piece bought for £5 sells for £735,000 at auction |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2 July 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-48824712 |access-date=12 July 2021}}</ref>

== Origin ==
Most accounts have said the pieces were found at [[Camas Uig|Uig Bay]] ({{coord|58.185987|-7.021909|format=dms|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline}}) on the west coast of Lewis, but Caldwell et al. of National Museums Scotland consider that [[Mealista]] ({{coord|58.104|-7.108|format=dms|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline}}) – which is also in the [[Uig, Lewis|parish of Uig]] and some {{convert|6|mi|sigfig=1}} further south down the coast—is a more likely place for the hoard to have been discovered.{{sfnp|Caldwell|Hall|Wilkinson|2011|pp=15–19}} The hoard was divided and sold in the 19th&nbsp;century; the [[British Museum]] holds 82&nbsp;pieces, and the [[National Museum of Scotland]] has 11&nbsp;pieces, and the recently rediscovered piece is owned privately.{{sfnp|Caldwell|Hall|Wilkinson|2011|p=11}}

At the [[British Museum]], [[Frederic Madden|F. Madden]], Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts, persuaded the trustees to purchase for 80&nbsp;guineas (£84) the 82&nbsp;pieces which he had been misled into believing was the entire hoard. Madden was a [[palaeographer]], a scholar of early vernacular literature, but he was especially intrigued by these artifacts because he was a chess enthusiast.{{sfnp|Stratford|1997|pp=4–8, 10}}{{sfnp|Sotheby's|2019}} Madden immediately began writing a research paper about the collection;{{sfnp|Madden|1832}} the paper remains informative today.{{when?|date=February 2025}}{{sfnp|Stratford|1997|pp=5, 8}}

There are many medieval chess bishops of various origins in different museums in Europe and US.<ref>{{cite web
 |title = [Site search on chess piece bishop]
 |website = Gothic Ivories Project (gothicivories.courtauld.ac.uk) 
 |publisher = [[The Courtauld Institute of Art]]
 |place = London, UK
 |url = http://www.gothicivories.courtauld.ac.uk/search/results.html?qs=chess+piece+bishop
 |access-date = 2 July 2019
}} — search returned 18&nbsp;objects
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |title = Chess bishop probably made in Trondheim, Norway, {{nobr|{{sc|AD}} 1150-1200}}
 |series = Art collection
 |website = metmuseum.org
 |publisher = [[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
 |place = New York, NY
 |url = https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464231
 |access-date = 2 July 2019
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |publisher = [[Swedish History Museum|Historiska Museet]]
 |place = Stockholm, Sweden
 |title = Chess bishop probably made in Norway or possibly England first part of 13th&nbsp;century
 |access-date = 2 July 2019
 |url = http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=43809&g=1
}}
</ref>

== Description ==
{{main|Game pieces of the Lewis chessmen hoard}}
Almost all of the pieces in the collection are carved from walrus ivory, with a few made instead from [[Toothed whales|whale teeth]]. The 79&nbsp;chess pieces{{efn|name=Thirteenth_warder_note| Current total of 79&nbsp;pieces, after 2019 recovery<ref name=BBC-2019-06-48494885/><ref name=BBC-2019-07-48824712/> of the 13th&nbsp;[[rook (chess)|warder (rook)]]; original discovery had 12&nbsp;warders / 78&nbsp;chess pieces.}} consist of 8&nbsp;[[king (chess)|kings]], 8&nbsp;[[queen (chess)|queens]], 16&nbsp;[[bishop (chess)|bishops]], 15&nbsp;[[knight (chess)|knights]], 13&nbsp;[[rook (chess)|warders]] (rooks){{efn|name=Thirteenth_warder_note}} and 19&nbsp;[[pawn (chess)|pawns]]. The heights of the pawns range from 3.5 to 5.8&nbsp;cm ({{nobr|1{{small|{{sfrac| 3 | 8 }}}}}} to {{nobr|2{{small|{{sfrac| 9 | 32 }}}} in),}} while the other pieces are between 7 and 10.2&nbsp;cm ({{nobr|2{{small|{{sfrac| 3 | 4 }}}}}} and 4&nbsp;in). Although there are 19&nbsp;pawns (a complete set requires 16), they have the greatest range of sizes of all the pieces, which has suggested that the 79&nbsp;chess pieces might belong to at least five sets.{{sfnp|Robinson|2004|p=30}} All the pawns are smaller, geometric shapes – cylinders and "tombstones" – perhaps intended to resemble [[boundary markers]]. All the pieces in the back rank are sculptures of human figures: The knights are mounted on [[Icelandic horse|rather diminutive horses]] and are shown holding spears and shields. The rooks are standing soldiers or "warders" holding shields and swords; four of the rooks are shown as wild-eyed [[berserker]]s biting their shields with battle fury.{{sfnp|Robinson|2004|pp=28–29}} Some pieces bore traces of red stain when found (which has since vanished), possibly indicating that red and white were used to distinguish the two sides, rather than the black and white generally used in modern chess.<ref name=dlmnyt>{{cite news |last=McClain |first=Dylan Loeb |date=9 September 2010 |title=Reopening history of storied Norse chessmen|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=C2 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/arts/09lewis.html |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref>
[[Image:lewis-chessmen08.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|The Lewis chessmen in the [[British Museum]]]]

Scholars have observed that, to the modern eye, the figural pieces, with their bulging eyes and glum expressions, have a distinctly comic character.{{sfnp|Robinson|2004|pp=37–41}}{{sfnp|Stratford|1997|p=48}} This is especially true of one rook ("warder&nbsp;4" in Madden's numbering) with a worried, sideways glance and the berserker rooks biting their shields, which have been called "irresistibly comic to a modern audience".{{sfnp|Robinson|2004|p=37}} It is believed, however, that the comic or sad expressions were not intended or perceived as such by the makers, who instead saw strength, ferocity, or in the case of the queens who hold their heads with a hand and seemingly pensive expression, "contemplation, repose, and possibly wisdom".{{sfnp|Robinson|2004|pp=37–41}}

Moreover, a recent article has examined how one of the king pieces projected a racialised representation of the archetypal chess king. Chess pieces envisioned human bodies which were constantly re-imagined and re-interpreted in the medieval period, and the Lewis chess king is fittingly characterised by a beard, hairstyle, and facial features that would not stand out in twelfth-century Norway, the supposed origin point of the set.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Chess and Race in the Global Middle Ages |journal=Speculum |date=2024 |volume=99 |issue=2 |page=498, 501 |doi=10.1086/729294 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/729294}}</ref>

== Discovery ==
The chessmen were discovered in early 1831 in a [[shoal|sandbank]] at the head of Uig Bay on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. There are various local stories concerning their arrival and modern discovery on Lewis.

Malcolm "Sprot" MacLeod ({{langx|gd|Calum an Sprot}}) from the nearby [[Ardroil|township of Pennydonald]] discovered the trove in a small stone [[cist|kist]] in a dune, exhibited them briefly in his [[barn|byre]] and sold them on to Captain Roderick Ryrie.<ref name=Burnett-2008-02-03/> One reported detail, that a cow actually unearthed the stash, is generally discounted in [[Uig, Lewis|Uig]] as fabrication. After the Isle of Lewis was purchased by [[James Matheson|J. Matheson]] in 1844, Malcolm MacLeod and his family were evicted during the [[Highland Clearances]] which transformed the area into sheep farms.

When the chessmen were uncovered in 1831, 1&nbsp;knight and 4&nbsp;warders were missing from the four sets.<ref name=BBC-2019-06-48494885/> In June&nbsp;2019 a warder piece, which had previously gone unrecognised for at least 55&nbsp;years, emerged in Edinburgh,<ref name=BBC-2019-06-48494885>{{cite news |title=Long-lost Lewis chessman found in Edinburgh family's drawer |work=[[BBC News]] |date=3 June 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-48494885 |access-date=3 June 2019}}</ref> and was purchased at a [[Sotheby's]] auction for £735,000 the following month, by an undisclosed buyer.<ref name=BBC-2019-07-48824712/>

== Exhibition and ownership ==
[[File:Lewis chessmen 23.JPG|thumb|A queen and a warder (rook) in the joint exhibition in Edinburgh, 2010]]
They were exhibited by Ryrie at a meeting of the [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]], on 11&nbsp;April 1831. The chessmen were soon after split up, with 10 being purchased by [[Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe|C.K. Sharpe]] and the others (67&nbsp;chessmen and 14&nbsp;[[tables (board game)|tablemen]]) purchased on behalf of the British Museum in London.

[[Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe|C.K. Sharpe]] later found another bishop to take his collection up to 11, all of which were later sold to [[Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough|Baron 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 Scottish Museum]] in Edinburgh. The 11&nbsp;are now on display in the [[National Museum of Scotland]].

Of the pieces given to the British Museum, most can be found in Room&nbsp;40, with the registration numbers M&ME&nbsp;1831, 11–1.78–159. Others have been lent to Scottish museums and temporary exhibitions.<ref name="British Museum">
{{cite press release
 |title = The Lewis Chessmen
 |publisher = [[The British Museum]]
 |place = London, UK
 |url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press_releases/statements/the_lewis_chessmen.aspx
 |access-date = 15 August 2013
}}
</ref>
A range of wooden or plastic replicas are popular items in the Museum shops.

The chessmen were number&nbsp;5 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the British Museum for a 2003 BBC documentary.<ref>{{cite episode |year = 2003 |network = BBC Television |series = documentary |title = [[Our Top Ten Treasures]] |people = presented by [[Adam Hart-Davis]], various experts from [[the British Museum]] }}</ref> They were one of the items featured in a 2010 [[BBC Radio 4|Radio&nbsp;4]] historical series.<ref>{{cite episode |year = 2010 |network = [[BBC Radio 4]] |series = ''[[A History of the World in 100 Objects]]'' |id =  "Status symbols" section, object&nbsp;61 }}</ref>

An exhibition entitled "The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked" included chess pieces from both the National Museum of Scotland and British Museum collections, along with other relevant objects, touring Scotland in 2010–2011. The exhibition opened in Edinburgh on 21&nbsp;May 2010 and proceeded to Aberdeen, [[Shetland]], and the Museum nan Eilean in [[Stornoway]], opening there on 15&nbsp;April 2011.<ref>{{cite news |title = Lewis Chessman exhibition opens in Stornoway museum |department = Scotland highlands & islands |website = [[BBC News]] (bbc.co.uk)  |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13085170 |access-date = 15 April 2011 }}</ref>

An exhibition entitled "The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis" at [[The Cloisters]] in New York City included 34&nbsp;of the chess pieces, all on loan from the British Museum. The exhibit lasted through 22&nbsp;April 2012.<ref>
{{cite news
 |first = Ken |last = Johnson
 |date = 18 November 2011
 |title = Medieval foes with whimsey
 |newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/arts/design/the-game-of-kings-medieval-ivory-chessmen-from-the-isle-of-lewis-at-the-cloisters.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=cloisters&st=cse
 |access-date = 15 August 2013
}}</ref>

On 3&nbsp;April 2013, £1.8&nbsp;million from the [[European Regional Development Fund]] was granted to transform [[Lews Castle]], [[Isle of Lewis]], into a museum for [[Outer Hebrides|the Western Isles]]. Around £14&nbsp;million in total is to be spent on restoring and converting the property, which has been shuttered for nearly 25&nbsp;years. When completed the permanent displays will include 6&nbsp;Lewis chessmen.<ref>
{{cite press release
 |title = New funding announced for Lews Castle museum
 |date = April 2013
 |website = scotland.gov.uk
 |publisher = [[Government of Scotland]]
 |place = Edinburgh, UK
 |url = http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/04/investment-in-museum-03042013
}}
</ref>

The Edinburgh warder piece was displayed in a special exhibit at the [[Neue Galerie New York]] in 2023, as part of a special exhibit.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title = Ronald S. Lauder collection
  |publisher = [[Neue Galerie New York]]
 |place = New York, NY
 |url = https://www.neuegalerie.org/ronald-s-lauder-collection
 |access-date = 2023-02-28
 |website = neuegalerie.org
}}
</ref><ref name=BBC-2019-07-48824712/>

== Dispute over location ==
[[Image:Chess01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Lewis chessmen in the [[National Museum of Scotland]] in Edinburgh]]
In in late 2007, a dispute arose as to where the main resting place of the pieces should be.<ref>{{cite news |title=Moves to unite historic chessmen |work=[[BBC News]] |date=24 December 2007 |department = Scotland highlands and islands |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7159656.stm |access-date=5 January 2022 |lang=en-GB}}</ref> There were calls from [[Scottish National Party]] politicians in the Western Isles (notably Councillor Annie Macdonald, [[Alasdair Allan]] MSP and [[Angus MacNeil]] MP) for the return of the pieces to the place they were found. [[Linda Fabiani]], Scottish [[Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture]], stated that "it is unacceptable that only 11&nbsp;Lewis chessmen rest at the National Museum of Scotland while the other&nbsp;67 (as well as the 14&nbsp;tablemen) remain in the British Museum in London."

[[Richard Oram]], Professor of Medieval and Environmental History at the [[University of Stirling]], agreed, arguing that there was no reason for there to be more than "a sample" of the collection in London. These views were dismissed by [[Margaret Hodge]], the then UK [[Minister of State]] in the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]], writing "It's a lot of nonsense, isn't it?", noting that the law protects purchases and drawing comparisons to major artworks in Europe housed in major cities, with replicas often available ''in situ'' where tourism is sufficient.<ref name=Burnett-2008-02-03>{{cite news |last = Burnett |first = Allan |date = 3 February 2008 |title = Stalemate |place = Glasgow, UK |newspaper = [[The Sunday Herald]] }}</ref> The historical society in Uig, ''Comann Eachdraidh Ùig'', which operates its museum near the find site, features detailed information about the chessmen and Norse occupation in Lewis. It has published that it cannot claim to own the pieces and would allow the normal museum market to determine whether more originals should rest in Edinburgh. It welcomes short-term loans.<ref>{{citation |title = {{grey|[no title cited]}} |newspaper = [[Uig News]] |date = February 2008}}</ref>{{full citation|date=March 2024}}

In October&nbsp;2009, 24 of the pieces from London and 6 from Edinburgh began a 16&nbsp;month tour of Scotland, partly funded by the [[Scottish Government]], whose [[Michael Russell (Scottish politician)|Mike Russell]], [[Minister for Culture and External Affairs]], stated that the Government and the British Museum had "agreed to disagree" on their eventual fate. [[Bonnie Greer]], the museum's deputy chairman, said that she "absolutely" believed the main collection should remain in London.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cornwell |first=Tim |date=2 October 2009 |title=Chessmen will never come home |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/chessmen-will-never-come-home-2465883 |access-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>

[[Neil MacGregor]], who at the time of the debate was director of the British Museum, was reported to say that it was Norway who was entitled to ask for them back, not Scotland.<ref name=Bunting-2016>{{cite book |last = Bunting |first = Madeleine |author-link = Madeleine Bunting |year = 2016 |title = Love of Country: A Hebridean journey |publisher = Granta |isbn = 9781847085184 }}</ref> [[Madeleine Bunting|M. Bunting]] writes that:
: "the British Museum has picked its way carefully and 6 of the figures were loaned long-term to Lewis's new museum in 2015".<ref name=Bunting-2016/>

<gallery>
File:NMSLewisChessmen29.jpg| Selection of chessmen at [[National Museum of Scotland|NMS]]
File:NMSLewisChessmen28.jpg| King and Queen at [[National Museum of Scotland|NMS]]
File:NMSLewisChessmen2.jpg| Face of a ‘[[berserker]]’ warder (rook) and profile of an ordinary warder at [[National Museum of Scotland|NMS]]
File:UigChessmen SelectionOfPieces.jpg| Row of bishops at the back and then knights, among a selection pieces on display at [[British Museum|BM]]
File:NMSLewisChessmen14.jpg| Knight on a [[Icelandic horse|stout pony]]
File:NMSLewisChessmen26.jpg| Decoration carved on back of a queen's throne at [[British Museum|BM]]
File:Lewis Chessmen.jpg| King and queen, with ‘[[berserker]]’ warder (rook) and knight behind them, at [[British Museum|BM]]
</gallery>

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== See also ==
* [[Charlemagne chessmen]]

== References ==
{{reflist|25em}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|25em|small=yes}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Brown |first=Nancy Marie
 |title=Ivory Vikings: The mystery of the most famous chessmen in the world and the woman who made them
 |year=2016
 |publisher=St. Martin's Press
 |isbn=978-1-250-10859-3
}}

* {{cite book
 |last1 = Caldwell  |first1 = David H.
 |last2 = Hall      |first2 = Mark A.
 |last3 = Wilkinson |first3 = Caroline M.
 |title = The Lewis Chessmen Unmasked
 |year = 2011
 |publisher = [[National Museums Scotland]]
 |isbn = 978-1-905267-46-0
}}

* {{cite journal
 |last = Madden |first = F. |author-link = Frederic Madden
 |year = 1832
 |title = VII Historical remarks on the introduction of the game of chess into Europe, and on the ancient chess-men discovered in the Isle of Lewis
 |journal = Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous Tracts, Relating to Antiquity
 |publisher = [[Society of Antiquaries of London]]
 |volume = 24 |pages = 203–291
 |url = https://archive.org/details/s2id13276830/page/203/mode/1up
 |via = [[Internet Archive]] (archive.org)
}}

* {{cite book
 |last = Murray |first = H.J.R.   |author-link = H. J. R. Murray
 |year = 1985
 |title = A History of Chess
 |publisher = Oxford University Press
}}

* {{cite book
 |last = Robinson  |first = James
 |title = The Lewis Chessmen
 |year = 2004
 |publisher = British Museum Press
 |isbn = 9780714150239
}}

*{{cite web
 |title = Attributed to the Lewis chessmen workshop, probably Norwegian, Trondheim, 13th century: a warder
 |year = 2019
 |publisher = [[Sotheby's]]
 |series = Old-master sculptural works of art
 |url = https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/old-master-sculpture-works-of-art/attributed-to-the-lewis-chessmen-workshop-probably
 |access-date = 21 January 2020  |url-status=live
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191130091405/https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/old-master-sculpture-works-of-art/attributed-to-the-lewis-chessmen-workshop-probably
 |archive-date = 30 November 2019
 |ref = {{sfnref|Sotheby's|2019}}
}}

* {{cite book
 |last = Stratford |first = N.
 |year = 1997
 |title = The Lewis Chessmen and the Enigma of the Hoard
 |publisher = The British Museum Press
}}

* {{cite book
 |last = Taylor |first = Michael
 |year = 1978
 |title = The Lewis Chessmen
 |publisher = British Museum Publications Limited
}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Chess and Race in the Global Middle Ages |journal=Speculum |date=2024 |volume=99 |issue=2 |page=480-540 |doi=10.1017/S0080440124000136 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/729294}}

{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons-inline|Lewis chessmen}}
* [https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/statements/the_lewis_chessmen.aspx The British Museum's page on the chessmen].
*[https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/lewis-chess-pieces/ National Museums Scotland's pages on the chessmen]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00stb51 A History of the World in 100 Objects, Number 61: The Lewis Chessmen]
* [https://www.isleoflewischessset.co.uk/ A Website dedicated to the Lewis chessmen, their form and history]
* [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lewis-chess-pieces-complete-set-d279ce3fd0e44726a21286877c367a05 Sketchfab: 3D models of the chess pieces at National Museum of Scotland]

{{Scandinavian Scotland|state=autocollapse}}
{{British Museum}}
{{Chess}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Archaeological artifacts]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Scotland]]
[[Category:Chess in Norway]]
[[Category:Chess in Scotland]]
[[Category:Chess sets]]
[[Category:Collection of National Museums Scotland]]
[[Category:History of chess]]
[[Category:History of the Outer Hebrides]]
[[Category:Ivory works of art]]
[[Category:Isle of Lewis]]
[[Category:Medieval European objects in the British Museum]]
[[Category:Scandinavian Scotland]]
[[Category:Romanesque art]]
[[Category:Treasure troves in Scotland]]
[[Category:Medieval chess]]
[[Category:12th century in Scotland]]
[[Category:1831 archaeological discoveries]]