Lewis Chessmen
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Nov 5, 2011
0
#9
I think it doesn't really matter whether they were used to play chess or not, they are beautifully handcrafted pieces.
And please, no 'funny' comments anymore, I'm getting bored. It's okay, you don't have to generate interest, people either wanna see them or they don't....
Nov 5, 2011
0
#10
It's fun to look at old chess sets and maybe even own replicas (unless you're rich enuff to own an original set) but basically I find almost all of the pre-Staunton chess sets ugly and/or confusing. But that's just IMHO. I wouldn't mind owning a book of illustrated chess sets from the past and present though, if there is such a thing.
This is a message for everyone who is not a member of the USCF:
The famous 'LEWIS CHESSMEN' are on display in New York City, from November 15th 2011 through April 22nd 2012. Where?:
'The Cloisters' [ the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dedicated to the art and architecture of medieval Europe ]
Location: Manhattan, NYC. Take the A-train [blue line-uptown] to 190th Street, exit by the elevator. Walk through Fort Tryon Park on Margaret Corbin Drive to 'The Cloisters', or transfer to the M4 bus and travel one stop to the museum.
For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org/cloisters
The exhibition is made possible by the Michel David-Weill fund.
About the Lewis Chessmen: Thirty-four of the most famous chess pieces in the world, all part of a hoard unearthed in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis, off the West Coast of Scotland, will be on view.
Created in the mid-12th century, probably in Norway, each piece is a precious miniature sculpture in walrus ivory. The game of chess as we know it today is one of the great legacies of the Middle Ages, and the Lewis chess pieces are among the earliest that include the full cast of characters found on modern boards.