One of my favorite places in London is the British Museum. Besides being able to view the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles, you can also see the Lewis Chessmen (along with about 8 million other objects!). I have told you about the Lewis Chessman before on a previous post! The Lewis Chessmen or Uig Chessmen (named after the bay where they were found) are 12th century chess pieces found in 1831 on the shores of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. (I will wait while you look that up on a map...here, don't bother, I will tell you...think of Scotland, go all the way to the top...and just to the west, that would be the Outer Hebrides, and the Isle of Lewis is the largest. There, how did I do, my readers from the Isle of Lewis?)
Okay, before I got bogged down in giving my little geography lesson, I was telling you about the Lewis Chessmen!
There were five missing pieces of the set but it has just been confirmed to us that they now have one of the missing pieces!
It was owned by a family in Edinburgh. The family's grandfather had been an antiques dealer and had no idea of value of the piece and passed it down to the family. The owner paid 5 pounds for it in 1964. The family had always felt it to "magical". Sotheby's (the famous auction house) kept the discovery secret until it was absolutely confirmed to be genuine and in what I think of as a typical understated British manner had this to say about it: "We can safely say that a million pounds will transform the sellers life".
Magical indeed!
We have an advertisement here that uses the phrase, "What's in your wallet?". Borrowing from that, I say to you (those in the British Isles especially), "what's in your wardrobe or drawers?"
There are still four pieces that are missing!
Search until you find them, I say!
By the way I am sorry to tell you that the show that I was so very excited to tell you about...the Song Stories? I was quite disappointed in the sound quality! Honestly, the video that I gave you of Bobbie Gentry singing her hit song was 100 times better than the one that they showed us on the show. I am not kidding!
Of course, it was the BBC. Just saying! (Sorry, I love PBS and please don't get mad with me but I am very particular about music and how it is presented.)
I wonder if the chessmen are made of bone or ivory. Maybe carved from stone? Any idea?
ReplyDeleteWalrus ivory, if my memory serves me correctly. To see such intricate carvings and to know how old they are, pretty thrilling to see!
DeleteYes I just now saw this on the news about the long-lost but now found chess piece. Isn't is CRAZY! Wow!
ReplyDeleteAnd to think that someone might have one in a drawer or sitting in their garden amongst the peonies!
DeleteI have it scheduled to be recorded so I'll see what it's like.
ReplyDeleteDon't know why these folks on TV don't consult with me before they broadcast something, you know I would be happy to advise them.😊
DeleteThe chessmen are charming! The king looks as though he's realised that power isn't everything it's cracked up to be....
ReplyDeleteI love the British Museum too. My nephew and I visited it in 2008; I think we both liked the armour best, along with the Egyptian artefacts. The Rosetta Stone was pretty amazing too.
So many things to look at! I want to live there, and by that, I mean IN the museum itself. I remember a piece of glass, with a crucifix inside, and it was like it was 3D or something...the Enlightenment Gallery, the Rosetta Stone, a big cat made of granite. I hope you saw the film, A Night at the Museum!!
DeleteI remember your previous post about the chessmen, and of course like yourself, I regularly read Graham*s blog, mostly written on the isle of Lewis.
ReplyDeleteThe Hebrides are a place I really, really want to see at some stage in my life, but one needs time for that; a hurried couple of days wouldn't do. Therefore, I will probably have to wait until retirement - and then hopefully will still have enough money and health for such trips!
Like you, I would love to visit there. Money and health, I also need both! Not only do I know Graham on there, but one of Graham's good friends who does not blog but she had become a friend through my blog! So thank you, Meike, if would not know them if not for you getting me to start my blog!
DeleteA find!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry about how your show turned out... Perhaps it was a very old program, and thus, not good quality sound...
Imagine finding out that something like that is in your possession. The TV show, I knew the songs were from the 70's but so was that video I gave you from the BBC! Maybe the ones they could get were the cheapest, they were trying to raise money for public TV, so didn't think anyone would care of notice the sound quality? Not sure, but I noticed!😊
DeleteBeautiful chess pieces.
ReplyDeleteThey are amazing to see. One of most visited spots at British Museum, I think.
DeleteI saw the story about the chess piece on the news. The most amazing things turn up from time to time.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Sometimes things on BBC take a few days to get on TV here but this time, they jumped on it!
DeleteWhat an extraordinary find, i do hope the rest turn up.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? Might be in antique shop in America, look out for one!
DeleteI love these Lewis chessmen and have for years, ever since I first saw them! It would be difficult to express how their rare quality moves me. It stops me in my tracks. They take my breath away.
ReplyDeleteStops me in my tracks, breathtaking...you have it just right, as always!
DeleteThat piece ought to be in a museum, not a rich man's house.
ReplyDeleteWell, most of them are in a museum! But I understand your point. You don't know how lucky you are with your museums. Also, seeing online the tributes and honours for D Day. Brits just know how to do things like that.
ReplyDeleteThe missing pieces are probably hidden away somewhere to stop them ending up in London with the rest of the set :o)
ReplyDeleteYes, that must be it! 😄 I was thrilled to see them myself. You might laugh at me but when I saw the Rosetta Stone, it just took my breath away. We had a picture of it on our literature book in 6th grade, this would have 1968. Never thought I would ever see it.
DeleteI read this story this morning on the BBC website. Amazing! I certainly don't have any of the missing four, but I love the fact that the chessmen were hidden in the sand dune, just waiting to be discovered, for hundreds of years. x
ReplyDeleteI know...just waiting on that sand dune...makes you want to go and dig in your own back garden, doesn't it? How about when they found the remains of that king in a car park? So much buried or stashed away, just waiting! xx
DeleteI'm enjoying catching up after my blogging absence but it is taking me a while. And thanks for the video. I've visited Graham on the Isle of Lewis and yearn to return. It's a hauntingly beautiful place. One of the quirky things I loved was coming upon huge carved wooden chessmen standing beside the road. No plaque or sign, no fanfare, just standing there! I do hope the lost chessmen are found.
ReplyDeleteGlad you listened to the video! I take a long time to find the very best video, with the best sound quality and hardly anyone listens to them! Would love to see those big wooden chessmen beside the road. Not only would like to visit Graham but also Pat, who I wonder if you got to meet her too, very good friend of Graham's. I remember your visit there, sounded wonderful.
ReplyDelete