Lewis chessmen
Carved chess pieces of walrus ivory with worried kings and shield-biting warriors.
The pieces were found in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland and are among the best-known objects of the Middle Ages. Most are in the British Museum and the rest in the National Museum of Scotland.
Materials: Walrus ivory, whale tooth
Manufacture: Carved in Norway, probably in Trondheim; some were originally stained red.
The expressions – the queens rest a hand on the cheek, the rooks are berserkers biting their shields.
The ornament on the backs of the thrones, in Romanesque style.