The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked is the most comprehensive exhibition on the Lewis chessmen for over a decade, featuring chessmen drawn from the collections of National Museums Scotland and the British Museum. It will open at its final tour venue, Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway, on 15 April 2011.

The touring exhibition looks at the mystery and intrigue surrounding the chessmen, explores the stories surrounding their discovery and shows 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.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director, National Museums Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be touring the Lewis Chessmen to Museum nan Eilean. These iconic objects have a special place in the public imagination, and we are pleased that our partnership with the British Museum has enabled this significant tour. We are grateful for support from the Scottish Government.”

Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum, said: “This tour provides a wonderful opportunity for these extraordinary objects, which are of European and worldwide significance, to be seen by audiences across Scotland. The British Museum has a long standing relationship with National Museums Scotland and is very pleased to continue this partnership, and we are grateful to the Scottish government for their support which has enabled the tour to become a reality”.

The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked looks 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 examines 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 looks 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.

As well as the chessmen, other items on show include a Viking hoard and personal items including a necklace of glass beads and a reindeer antler comb; and later objects showing Scandinavian influence including a spoon from Iona and a spur from Skye.

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 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, 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.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked, by David H. Caldwell, Mark A. Hall and Caroline M. Wilkinson, priced £6.99.

Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway, 15 April – 12 September 2011 (http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/museum/)

Source: National Museums Scotland