The Lewis Chessmen
A major new exhibition on the iconic Lewis Chessmen is coming to the Western Isles next year.
Featuring chessmen drawn from National Museums Scotland and the British Museum, The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked is the most comprehensive exhibition on the chessmen for over a decade.
The exhibition will look at the mystery and intrigue surrounding the chessmen, explore the stories surrounding their discovery and show how the characters reflected society at the time they were made.
It draws upon new research by National Museums Scotland on their craftsmanship, origins and historical context to provide visitors with a new and vibrant perspective on the chessmen.
The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked will look at the myths and stories surrounding the chessmen, including the background and context of their discovery. By the time they were lost on Lewis, the island had moved well beyond the era of Viking raids and had been Scandinavian for many centuries. The Western Isles had become a separate Kingdom of the Isles, ruled by Norse kings based on the Isle of Man.
The exhibition will examine the craft tradition in Trondheim, Norway, where the chessmen were likely to have been made, analysing the faces of the chessmen to compare how they were carved. It will also look at society in 12th century Lewis, and take a guess at the important people to whom the chessmen may have belonged.
Visitors can find out about the playing of ancient board games - listed in the 12th century as 'one of the nine key attributes of a noble', including chess, tables (a predecessor of backgammon), and hnefetafl. Finally, the exhibition will look at the popular appeal of the chessmen, who have featured in books, films and television programmes from The Saga of Noggin the Nog to Harry Potter.
The Lewis Chessmen were discovered on the western shore of the Isle of Lewis in 1831, as part of a hoard of walrus ivory. The hoard includes assembled pieces made of whale bone and walrus ivory from at least four chess-sets, probably made in Norway in the late 12th or early 13th century.
As the largest and finest group of early chessmen to survive, they are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries ever made in Scotland and are of major international importance. Few chessmen survive at all from the Middle Ages, and these are unparalleled in their high-quality, humour and intricacy of design.
The majority of chess pieces were acquired by the British Museum in 1831, who acquired them in order to preserve the hoard as intact as possible in a public collection. They have been on permanent display ever since. Eleven pieces remained in Scotland and have been on display for many years - the last ten in a prime position in the National Museum of Scotland.
Before the exhibition comes to the Hebrides, the home of the chessmen, it will tour Scotland.
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh is the first venue. The exhibition will later travel to Aberdeen Art Gallery, Shetland Museum & Archives and Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway. The exhibition and tour has been made possible with funding from the Scottish Government.
The tour dates are:
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
21 May - 19 September 2010
Aberdeen Art Gallery
7 October 2010 - 8 January 2011
Shetland Museum & Archives
29 January 2011 - 27 March 2011
Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway
15 April 2011 - 12 September 2011