The 'Lewis Chesspieces', are the largest and finest group of early chessmen to survive. Discovered in 1831 at Uig Bay on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the hoard is known to have contained 78 walrus ivory chesspieces.

The pieces were made in Iceland or Norway in the eraly 12th century. Each figure has been individually crafted using fine chisels, knives and files. Some pieces were coloured red, probably using madder, a widely available vegetable dye. This is one of 12 "Warders" in the set and is wearing a helmet and a thick padded coat and is holding a sword and shield. He is biting the shield in the manner of a Norse ‘berserker’. The warder could be moved in the same way as the modern rook or castle - any number of spaces forwards, backwards or to the side.

Walrus ivory was once much prized by royalty and the Church in northern Europe. It was carved in a few specialist workshops which thrived from the mid 10th to the early 13th centuries.

©SCRAN/National Museums Scotland Front view of a ‘warder’ from the Lewis Chesspieces