A special collection of four full-sized replicas of the Lewis Chessmen from the National Museums Scotland Collection.

The Lewis Chess pieces are among the best known objects in the National Museum of Scotland.  The Viking hoard of ninety-three pieces, carved from ivory are probably made in Scandinavia inthe 12th century, were found some 700 years later in a sand-dune at Uig on the island of Lewis in 1831.  The craftsmanship varies from piece to piece but it is often the facial sxpressions that reveal their true quality.  The hoard contained four distinct set with some traces of dark red colouring on some of the pieces.  Eleven pieces are currently owned by National Museums Scotland and the remaining eighty-two are in the British Museum.  While the reason for the hoard is unknown, there is little doubt that chess would have been a passtime of the wealthy Viking lords who ruled the islands at the time, paying lip service to the King in Norway, but fighting endlessly amongst themselves for local control of the islands.