The most extraordinary chess find of all time, 59 chessmen (plus a few pawns), from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. About the great discovery, the pieces, and the reproductions
I just got this nice message from RUclipsr cbrady84: My favorite is my brand new 'Custom' Isle of Lewis Chess Set from Ivan Simberg in Montreal, Canada. There wasn't a maker in the world that I could find that would make this custom Isle of Lewis set for me with the unsual peices the do not exist on the market. He made it for me. I know you will never find a chess set or chess maker like this. My Reply: Yes! I am going to start carrying Ivan's custom Lewis sets ASAP. Amazing sets with many different samples of the original Lewis pieces -- most amazing: warders as pawns -- all different kinds from the original designs!
I have those now. Please find them at www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS0&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0
Trondheim is in Norway. Sorry if there was any confusion in the presentation. Probably made in Trondheim, Norway and found on Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Yep.
Thanks for the comment. I would be happy to hear about your research. Everyone viewing this should be notified: THE ISLE OF LEWIS CHESSMEN ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE CLOISTERS MUSEUM, NEW YORK, NOW THROUGH APRIL 2011.
Hey my Chess Friends! I appear in this new 4-hour film series on the Culture of Chess! INFO AND DOWNLOAD AT ideasroadshow.com/chess/ WATCH THE TRAILER AT ruclips.net/video/zLnOklDkTGQ/видео.html DVD FOR PURCHASE ON AMAZON www.amazon.com//dp/B0C13M1B84/
Thanks for your message. Of the many styles of chess sets I deal with, these are by far the most popular. If you go go my site, AncientChess com, and click on Browse Chess Sets, or Products, you'll find your way to a whole list of things. You can even search 'lewis' among my listings and find the sets like this that are available. Let me know if you have any more questions...
I haven't seen the film yet, but a quick search brought me to a trivia page on the IMDB site ... and it confirms that yes, these are the guys in Brave!
Yes, I know what you mean, those seated figures are very similar, and with the bulky Bishop especially. I find the 'warder' rooks very difficult to get used to, since the pointy hat represents a chess bishop in my mind. Of course, the castle rooks address that problem -- but still there is that issue with the queen. Anyway, I agree, very nice to look at.
I love your videos. Is this the chess set that one sees in the Disney-Pixar film "Brave?" When I saw the chess peices in that film, I immediately thought I had seen them before.
I have a set from the house of staunton. I would really like to get a hold of one of your sets. I don't have the berserker rook or the guy with the "tin hat" looking cap on. Can you PM me some information?
A Norwegen traveller came to Ile of Lewe (Lewis) Scotland in the 11th centuary and were re-discovered in the 18th Centuary and copied .And they are very populuar today .
Rick Knowlton is great to work with! He's got a website that has a great variety of quality chess sets and books about the history of chess. Definitely get Ivan's chess set through Rick. He helped me with all my questions about getting a custom chess set through Ivan. Thank you Rick. I hope the hurricane did not affect you too bad.
There are some good shots of the actual chessmen going around the internet now that the exhibit is on at the Cloisters in New York. If you google around a bit, you'll probably find some great stuff.
Thanks for the great comment. I've got a few different sets available now, some shown in the video and some not ... www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS1&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0
+T.L. Hunter These chessmen would have been played with on an 8 x 8 square checkered board, just like the standard boards we use today. The courier 12 x 8 was a special variant, but 8 x 8 and checkered was always standard in Europe.
I checked your website to find the various sets described here, but couldn't find the smaller set with the warder pawns. Can you say where this one can be found?
Thanks for the question, Roger. No, this video was made a few years ago and my inventory is always changing. But I do still have many of the sets you see, have new sets not shown, and can get sets made if I don't have them on hand. So ... take a look at what I've got (choose the 'Isle of Lewis 12th Century' link, 4th row down on the right at ancientchess.com ) ... and send me a specific message if you don't see what you're looking for
Thanks for asking. Please find my listings at www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS0&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0 Let me know if you have any questions or requests
These are made of casting stone, especially hard gypsum. Brand names are Tuff-Stone, Hydrostone or Drystone. The original pieces from the 12th century were mostly walrus ivory, a few made of whale tooth.
"One [queen] is holding something in her hand..." It is a drinking horn. A matter of hospitality in old Anglo-Saxon and Norse halls was to have the most notable ladies distributing mead or ale to warriors.
I don't remember seeing it in that film, but I shouldn't be surprised if it appeared at some point. The Lewis chessmen have been used SO often in film -- it would be hard to keep them out!
@@johnstevenson9956 Very interesting! It's been years since I saw that film, will have to watch again! The book by the way I remember as also being very good -- I read that way back, before it was a movie :) Josh's further life is also very interesting. He quit chess later, saying that his coach(es) sucked all the fun out of it by getting him to moderate his exciting attacking style. He was however a top level competitive martial artist. Quite a guy! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Waitzkin --- Rick ( aworldofchess.com )
@@AncientChess I've got a couple of Josh Waitzkin's books too. In one of them, he points out the differences between what really happened and the way it came out in the movie. For example, Bruce Pandolfini was not the martinet he appeared to be, but one of the nicest people Waitzkin knew. Quite a few differences like that. I've even got one of his Dad's books about Garry Kasparov.
@@johnstevenson9956 Wow, looks like you really have been following our boy Josh. It really irks me when they do a basically biographical or historical film, and they just change the facts for some arbitrary reason; presumably to tell the story they imagine, rather than the story of what happened. In my opinion, every person has drama and potential intrigue in the course of his or her life, and if the biographer isn't willing to find what that really is, he has no business superimposing the story he wants to tell over the story of this actual person. If the facts of the person's life aren't good enough for him (or for "Hollywood"), they should just move on and either tell their fiction as fiction or find a person who's life they actually appreciate enough to tell the truth about. For more of my opinion on such things, a good video might be my review of Pawn Sacrifice ruclips.net/video/7U6yDomJQr8/видео.html But enough about me. I'd be interested to look at some of those books you mentioned ....
Someone commented that the Lewis chessmen may have come from Muslim Spain. I've never seen that idea before, and don't know if there's any evidence for that. It's not unlikely that the Vikings got the game of chess itself from contact with Islam, but the style of these chessmen is found mostly in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
THIS IS AMAZING! IT'S TRUE! www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-48494885?fbclid=IwAR3T68TyVTCZVxz0tDfouB5PxpbzTmC_kqukxS5mndoE82XuWYnQgHRC7PE
Yeah I just submitted another comment on this, but looks like you beat me to it! It was the equivalent of the rook, and they say about $1 million or so?!
The chess set you have on your table. Are the Isle of Lewis no. 1 on one side and the Lewis no. 2 on the other side. I have moulds for both. The one with the bowler hat has been made up from one of the pieces. A rook has had a hat made for him. Nothing wrong with that I suppose as one of the pieces in the museum has a bowler hat but I'm not sure what piece. I will be having another look at the originals in the museum hear on you tube and perhaps make a bowler hat for one of my pieces
Thanks Michael, it's nice to see you are scrutinizing the pieces so carefully! I like to use the listings in the book "The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked" to refer to every piece there is (except of course the 2019 warder).
@@AncientChess hi. I Google searched for the Lewis pieces with the bowler hats. One was a rook and the other was a knite. The hats don't really look like bowler hats but look strangely like ceramic chimney covers that they used on a chimney hear in the UK. And makes your piece look like an English gentleman going to the pub. Just kidding of course. But do a Google search and have a look. I wanted to see how close I can get to making a chess set that looks like the originals in colour and it gave me one idea but wether it works or not but I want to have a go. Your welcome and have a nice day. Kind regards. Mick
@@John.Flower.Productions both plasters or resins. Resins will deteriorate the moulds eventually so I leaned how to make my own moulds to preserve them.
Saw the originals on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria a few years ago. Also saw a replica partially carved in situ in an authentic walrous tusk. The original dark pieces were stained red with a vegetable dye. The red colour therefore has much tradition for chess pieces. I have the cast reproduction of this set. It is very nice for display but not really practical for play.
Actually, the originals are plain ivory in color. There a small traces of some chemical found in the crevices of the pieces that has lead some researchers to believe they may have been stained red at one time. They certainly are beautiful with the red stain!
AncientChess I was referring to the dark pieces only with respect to the red stain. BTW the people who mention that the originals were made from whale bone are mistaken. These were all made of walrus tusk which carves nicely like any ivory. Thanks for your reply and thanks for the great videos.
antipodesman Thanks for your message. I understand, but I am quite certain this is not correct. Although some pieces show traces of a possible red-dye chemical, none of them are presently showing a red stain color. Almost all of the pieces are made of walrus ivory; only a few are made of whale bone. These issues are detailed very well in the book, The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked. Thanks for the good words ... sorry if my comments seem argumentative, I'm just meaning to tell you the best I know from the best sources I've found.
antipodesman Very interesting about the chemical traces. I've only heard about the relevance of red dye due to written records. Are the few made of whale actual bone or teeth? Thanks for all the videos.
Yes -- it was an absolutely amazing discovery! I expected it to sell for more, since the Lewis chessmen are really considered to be priceless. I still want to know more about it -- who bought it, what research on the piece has uncovered, etc
![[ GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS ] Teaser Trailer](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/e4TDqaE3XAg/mqdefault.jpg)
I just got this nice message from RUclipsr cbrady84:
My favorite is my brand new 'Custom' Isle of Lewis Chess Set from Ivan Simberg in Montreal, Canada. There wasn't a maker in the world that I could find that would make this custom Isle of Lewis set for me with the unsual peices the do not exist on the market. He made it for me. I know you will never find a chess set or chess maker like this.
My Reply:
Yes! I am going to start carrying Ivan's custom Lewis sets ASAP. Amazing sets with many different samples of the original Lewis pieces -- most amazing: warders as pawns -- all different kinds from the original designs!
I have those now. Please find them at www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS0&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0
Trondheim is in Norway. Sorry if there was any confusion in the presentation. Probably made in Trondheim, Norway and found on Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Yep.
Thanks for the comment. I would be happy to hear about your research. Everyone viewing this should be notified:
THE ISLE OF LEWIS CHESSMEN ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE CLOISTERS MUSEUM, NEW YORK, NOW THROUGH APRIL 2011.
very interesting video and a very beautyful set
Well done presentation.
Thank you very much! And I look forward to more "Ancient Chess" videos.
Hey my Chess Friends!
I appear in this new 4-hour film series on the Culture of Chess!
INFO AND DOWNLOAD AT ideasroadshow.com/chess/
WATCH THE TRAILER AT ruclips.net/video/zLnOklDkTGQ/видео.html
DVD FOR PURCHASE ON AMAZON www.amazon.com//dp/B0C13M1B84/
bought this exact set...quality is great and they are heavily weighted. Good set!
Thanks for your message. Of the many styles of chess sets I deal with, these are by far the most popular. If you go go my site, AncientChess com, and click on Browse Chess Sets, or Products, you'll find your way to a whole list of things. You can even search 'lewis' among my listings and find the sets like this that are available. Let me know if you have any more questions...
Heard about this on NPR--so neat to find this video. I'm planning an illustration research trip to Lewis next year.
I haven't seen the film yet, but a quick search brought me to a trivia page on the IMDB site ... and it confirms that yes, these are the guys in Brave!
I've seen that book enough times in your videos to want it
An outstanding video!
Thanks a lot Joe! I've got many more good ones on my web site ancientchess.com/page/videos.htm
Yes, I know what you mean, those seated figures are very similar, and with the bulky Bishop especially. I find the 'warder' rooks very difficult to get used to, since the pointy hat represents a chess bishop in my mind. Of course, the castle rooks address that problem -- but still there is that issue with the queen. Anyway, I agree, very nice to look at.
The bronze age and the early renaissance are a very, very long time apart.
Why do you mention this? Please elaboarate
Merci beaucoup, fella! I'll relay your message to the master studio
I love your videos. Is this the chess set that one sees in the Disney-Pixar film "Brave?" When I saw the chess peices in that film, I immediately thought I had seen them before.
I have a set from the house of staunton. I would really like to get a hold of one of your sets. I don't have the berserker rook or the guy with the "tin hat" looking cap on. Can you PM me some information?
Gorgeous chess set. I wonder how much this set is. Any figire in your mind? I wanna buy one soo
A Norwegen traveller came to Ile of Lewe (Lewis) Scotland in the 11th centuary and were re-discovered in the 18th Centuary and copied .And they are very populuar today .
Rick Knowlton is great to work with! He's got a website that has a great variety of quality chess sets and books about the history of chess. Definitely get Ivan's chess set through Rick. He helped me with all my questions about getting a custom chess set through Ivan. Thank you Rick. I hope the hurricane did not affect you too bad.
There are some good shots of the actual chessmen going around the internet now that the exhibit is on at the Cloisters in New York. If you google around a bit, you'll probably find some great stuff.
Fantastic video, I think I might save up for a set myself.
Thanks for the great comment. I've got a few different sets available now, some shown in the video and some not ...
www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS1&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0
wow beautiful pieces, i have to get one of those :D
It’s now believed that some were originally red.
What kind of board would these pieces have been played on? would it have been more like the courier boards or 8x8?
+T.L. Hunter These chessmen would have been played with on an 8 x 8 square checkered board, just like the standard boards we use today. The courier 12 x 8 was a special variant, but 8 x 8 and checkered was always standard in Europe.
Thanks
Whooaaa!! These are GORGEOUS! 😍😍😍😍😍
Yeah, an amazing discovery in so many ways. Really beyond anything in chess history
Interesting my website in my profile has lots of pictures of the area where they were found, the exact location is kept a secret.
I checked your website to find the various sets described here, but couldn't find the smaller set with the warder pawns. Can you say where this one can be found?
Thanks for the question, Roger. No, this video was made a few years ago and my inventory is always changing. But I do still have many of the sets you see, have new sets not shown, and can get sets made if I don't have them on hand. So ... take a look at what I've got (choose the 'Isle of Lewis 12th Century' link, 4th row down on the right at ancientchess.com ) ... and send me a specific message if you don't see what you're looking for
Where can I buy this set? Thank you!
Thanks for asking. Please find my listings at www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=rickofricks&LH_PrefLoc=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlewis.TRS0&_nkw=lewis&_sacat=0
Let me know if you have any questions or requests
Can you tell us, which kind of stone are used?
These are made of casting stone, especially hard gypsum. Brand names are Tuff-Stone, Hydrostone or Drystone. The original pieces from the 12th century were mostly walrus ivory, a few made of whale tooth.
they are from the Norwegian and Danish vikings and as bladerunnersn says, carved from whale bone
Meant to say the Norwegen traveller carved them from whale bone .
I think it would be neat to have a set that is raggedy and beat up like some of the originals.
YEah, I would love to have pieces exactly like the originals, as they are now. Maybe some day
"One [queen] is holding something in her hand..." It is a drinking horn. A matter of hospitality in old Anglo-Saxon and Norse halls was to have the most notable ladies distributing mead or ale to warriors.
Thanks for the good comment. Yes indeed, a horn for drink! By the look on her face I think she could use a few sips for herself!
So, the Isle Of Lewis Knight must have been the Knight featured in "Searching For Bobby Fischer".
I don't remember seeing it in that film, but I shouldn't be surprised if it appeared at some point. The Lewis chessmen have been used SO often in film -- it would be hard to keep them out!
@@AncientChess Near the beginning, I think he finds it on the ground during his birthday party.
@@johnstevenson9956 Very interesting! It's been years since I saw that film, will have to watch again! The book by the way I remember as also being very good -- I read that way back, before it was a movie :)
Josh's further life is also very interesting. He quit chess later, saying that his coach(es) sucked all the fun out of it by getting him to moderate his exciting attacking style. He was however a top level competitive martial artist. Quite a guy! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Waitzkin
--- Rick ( aworldofchess.com )
@@AncientChess I've got a couple of Josh Waitzkin's books too. In one of them, he points out the differences between what really happened and the way it came out in the movie. For example, Bruce Pandolfini was not the martinet he appeared to be, but one of the nicest people Waitzkin knew. Quite a few differences like that. I've even got one of his Dad's books about Garry Kasparov.
@@johnstevenson9956 Wow, looks like you really have been following our boy Josh. It really irks me when they do a basically biographical or historical film, and they just change the facts for some arbitrary reason; presumably to tell the story they imagine, rather than the story of what happened. In my opinion, every person has drama and potential intrigue in the course of his or her life, and if the biographer isn't willing to find what that really is, he has no business superimposing the story he wants to tell over the story of this actual person. If the facts of the person's life aren't good enough for him (or for "Hollywood"), they should just move on and either tell their fiction as fiction or find a person who's life they actually appreciate enough to tell the truth about. For more of my opinion on such things, a good video might be my review of Pawn Sacrifice ruclips.net/video/7U6yDomJQr8/видео.html
But enough about me. I'd be interested to look at some of those books you mentioned ....
Someone commented that the Lewis chessmen may have come from Muslim Spain. I've never seen that idea before, and don't know if there's any evidence for that. It's not unlikely that the Vikings got the game of chess itself from contact with Islam, but the style of these chessmen is found mostly in northern Germany and Scandinavia.
At 9:03 - "Fabriqué au Canada", not "fabrique en Canada". Here you go, free translation.
I read one of those pieces have been found
you mean ... another piece? Tell us more!
THIS IS AMAZING! IT'S TRUE!
www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-48494885?fbclid=IwAR3T68TyVTCZVxz0tDfouB5PxpbzTmC_kqukxS5mndoE82XuWYnQgHRC7PE
Yeah I just submitted another comment on this, but looks like you beat me to it! It was the equivalent of the rook, and they say about $1 million or so?!
The chess set you have on your table. Are the Isle of Lewis no. 1 on one side and the Lewis no. 2 on the other side. I have moulds for both. The one with the bowler hat has been made up from one of the pieces. A rook has had a hat made for him. Nothing wrong with that I suppose as one of the pieces in the museum has a bowler hat but I'm not sure what piece. I will be having another look at the originals in the museum hear on you tube and perhaps make a bowler hat for one of my pieces
Thanks Michael, it's nice to see you are scrutinizing the pieces so carefully! I like to use the listings in the book "The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked" to refer to every piece there is (except of course the 2019 warder).
@@AncientChess hi. I Google searched for the Lewis pieces with the bowler hats. One was a rook and the other was a knite. The hats don't really look like bowler hats but look strangely like ceramic chimney covers that they used on a chimney hear in the UK. And makes your piece look like an English gentleman going to the pub. Just kidding of course. But do a Google search and have a look. I wanted to see how close I can get to making a chess set that looks like the originals in colour and it gave me one idea but wether it works or not but I want to have a go. Your welcome and have a nice day. Kind regards. Mick
"I have moulds for both."
Which material(s) do you cast pieces from?
@@John.Flower.Productions both plasters or resins. Resins will deteriorate the moulds eventually so I leaned how to make my own moulds to preserve them.
Saw the originals on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria a few years ago. Also saw a replica partially carved in situ in an authentic walrous tusk. The original dark pieces were stained red with a vegetable dye. The red colour therefore has much tradition for chess pieces. I have the cast reproduction of this set. It is very nice for display but not really practical for play.
Actually, the originals are plain ivory in color. There a small traces of some chemical found in the crevices of the pieces that has lead some researchers to believe they may have been stained red at one time. They certainly are beautiful with the red stain!
AncientChess
I was referring to the dark pieces only with respect to the red stain. BTW the people who mention that the originals were made from whale bone are mistaken. These were all made of walrus tusk which carves nicely like any ivory. Thanks for your reply and thanks for the great videos.
antipodesman Thanks for your message. I understand, but I am quite certain this is not correct. Although some pieces show traces of a possible red-dye chemical, none of them are presently showing a red stain color. Almost all of the pieces are made of walrus ivory; only a few are made of whale bone. These issues are detailed very well in the book, The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked. Thanks for the good words ... sorry if my comments seem argumentative, I'm just meaning to tell you the best I know from the best sources I've found.
AncientChess
OK . . . fair enough.
antipodesman Very interesting about the chemical traces. I've only heard about the relevance of red dye due to written records. Are the few made of whale actual bone or teeth? Thanks for all the videos.
Hi AncientChess, did you hear about the real Isle of Lewis chess piece that sold for about $1 million?! It was their equivalent of a rook.
Yes -- it was an absolutely amazing discovery! I expected it to sell for more, since the Lewis chessmen are really considered to be priceless. I still want to know more about it -- who bought it, what research on the piece has uncovered, etc
Not playing with these because the Black Queen in my set is too small and resembles a bishop...however they make wonderful decoration!
With the dizzying frenetic camerawork,had you considered decaffeinated coffee? ; )
The Isle of Lewis
That is the island where president Trump's mother, Mary Ann MacLeod, was born and grew up
Or too many
Hunh? What? You don't like me having lots of Lewis chess sets? Hard to imagine.
@@rickknowlton9990 I did not said that, don't worry is amazing to have them, actually I'm making my own in polymer clay
@@martinacevedohace8anos166 Thanks Martin! I'm glad to hear you are so involved in making your own chessmen. Send your thoughts or questions any time.