"Each one of these is really a magnificent gem of Romanesque sculpture," Boehm says, pointing out the serpentine creature that appears to be twisting around at the base of his throne. "I like this guy, he has the kind of Rastafarian long hair going down to the throne. He’s the Bob Marley king." The kings are the largest pieces in the set—some measure a little over 4 inches tall.
Courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum.
The Exasperated Wife: 12th Century, Norway
When I asked Boehm why the queen looks so mournful, she replied, “I’m not sure whether we should interpret it that way.” She could be responding to the battle or expressing dissatisfaction with the king's moves. "There’s some kind of inquietude, some angst there. She’s sort of like, 'oye what has [the king] done now?'" The queen didn't appear on the chessboard until the late 11th century, an indicator of her growing importance in medieval society. The vizier, or the king's principle adviser, stood in her place before that.
Courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum.
The Good Shepherd: 12th Century, Norway
Bishops started knocking elephants off the board in the 12th century. "The bishops were of course very powerful allies of the kings of Europe," Boehm says. "Their presence on the chess board reflects the power of their position. Some bishops had actually raised armies." This bishop is holding a crosier, the emblem of his office. He's the shepherd of the people, and thus needs the crosier to keep the bourgeois in line if they misbehave.
Courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum.
The Bellicose Berserker: 12th Century, Norway
At first glance, it seems like this berserker (today's castle piece) needs an orthodontist. "In fact, he is chomping down on the top of his shield because it is all he can do to hold himself back until he gets the word to surge ahead in battle," says Boehm. "This is from Norse mythology—the berserkers were the great fighters of the kings."
Courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum.
The Distinctive Pawn: 12th Century, Norway
“Among the pawns that are in the Lewis horde, this is a unique one,” Boehm says. That’s because the surface carving looks a lot like the design on the belt buckle that was found with the pieces. “That, it seems to me, is key to suggesting that this horde was likely the property of a merchant.” says Boehm. The merchant probably would have purchased the belt buckle and pawn from the same workshop.
Credit: Courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum.
The Holy Knight: 12th Century, Possibly England
Though he may just look like another tiny figurine, this piece is actually quite representative of a 12th century knight, down to the armor. It may have been because knights loved to play chess. "We know that Crusaders on the way to the Holy Land played chess at night,” says Boehm. “If you’re making something, and your likely client is a knight, your customer will want himself to be seen correctly.”
Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bishop: 12th Century, Probably Norway
This isn't one of the Lewis Chessmen, but it's also likely from 12th century Norway. The attendant on the right (the viewer's left) is the reader, charged with reciting certain lessons during the church service. Boehm thinks the attendant on the left may be the precentor, or the guy in charge of the choir, because he has his hand to his ear as if he's listening to music.
Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Dangerous Elephant: 12th Century, Possibly Sicily
Chess has never been an entirely peaceful game. When a medieval player became angry during a match, he would sometimes pick up a chess piece and hurl it at his opponent's head. Occasionally this killed his adversary. If you were going to pick a piece to do some damage, this would be a good choice, Boehm says. This piece was likely an elephant, the predecessor to the bishop. The two protruding nodules at the top represent elephant tusks. "Some people say the sort of stylized elephant [nodules] gave way to the bishop because the bishop wears that hat with the two points," Boehm explains.
Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Elephant of War: 7th-8th Century, Unknown Origin
It’s unclear whether this piece came from North Africa, Sicily, or Spain. What is known is that in the 7th century, Indian and North African soldiers used elephants in the military—hence their coveted spot on the battleground of the chessboard.
Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Black Stallion: 8th-10th Century, Probably Spain
Even though it lacks four legs and a tail, “this very simple carving still evokes the head of a horse,” says Boehm. These pieces are made of jet, a popular carving material.
My grandfather carved a wooden chessboard in the 1940s and taught my father to play chess on it in the 1960s. He gave him the board as a gift in 1978, and wrote a note on the back of it: “Something to remember me by …” About 20 years later, my father taught me to play on the same thick board.
Many chess sets are similarly steeped in stories. But few can top the mystery that shrouds the Lewis Chessmen, which are currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Cloisters branch. Around 900 years ago, someone left 93 intricately carved ivory chess pieces in the sand of a bay on Scotland's Isle of Lewis. Sometime before 1831, a local man unearthed them. Why they were left there has never been determined.
"Everything about this chess set is pretty intriguing," says Barbara Boehm, the curator at the Cloisters branch, where 34 of the pieces went on display this month.
On April 11, 1831, the Scottish Antiquaries Society in Edinburgh revealed the pieces to the public, fueling wide speculation about their roots.
"There was some suggestion at the time that these pieces were gnomes or fairies," Boehm tells me conspiratorially. Since the chessmen were buried along with a belt buckle and backgammon pieces, Boehm thinks it’s more likely the horde belonged to a merchant.
This is not by any means one of the first chess sets; chess likely began many centuries before in India. However, the Lewis pieces are some of the first to resemble the modern set. Before the game spread to Europe, an elephant, for example, occupied the bishop position. Check out the slideshow above for a tour of the Cloisters’ most beautiful chess pieces and the stories they tell. The first five are from the Lewis Chessmen collection.
