Lewis chessmen

The Lewis chessmen at the British Museum, set out on a red and white board as if a game were under way. Found on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and first exhibited in Edinburgh in 1831, they were probably made between 1150 and 1200, most likely in Trondheim, Norway, and are carved almost entirely from walrus ivory. London holds 82 pieces and Edinburgh 11. Seeing them in battle formation is the best way to appreciate them as a playable set rather than a row of curios: kings, queens, bishops, knights, warders and plain pawns.