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History and Surface Condition of the Lewis Chessmen in the Collection of the National Museums Scotland

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History and Surface Condition of the Lewis Chessmen in the Collection of the National Museums Scotland ArcheoSciences Revue d'archéométrie 35 | 2011 Varia / International ArBoCo Workshop History and Surface Condition of the Lewis Chessmen in the Collection of the National Museums Scotland (Hebrides, late 12th-early 13th centuries) Histoire et état de surface des pièces d’échec de l’île de Lewis dans le musée National d’Écosse (Hébrides, fin xiie/début xiiie siècles) Jim Tate, I. Reiche, F. Pinzari, J. Clark et D. Caldwell Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/3342 DOI : 10.4000/archeosciences.3342 ISBN : 978-2-7535-1849-0 ISSN : 2104-3728 Éditeur Presses universitaires de Rennes Édition imprimée Date de publication : 30 avril 2011 Pagination : 249-258 ISBN : 978-2-7535-1847-6 ISSN : 1960-1360 Référence électronique Jim Tate, I. Reiche, F. Pinzari, J. Clark et D. Caldwell, « History and Surface Condition of the Lewis Chessmen in the Collection of the National Museums Scotland (Hebrides, late 12th-early 13th centuries) », ArcheoSciences [En ligne], 35 | 2011, mis en ligne le 30 avril 2013, consulté le 16 février 2021. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/3342 ; DOI : https://doi.org/ 10.4000/archeosciences.3342 Article L.111-1 du Code de la propriété intellectuelle. History and Surface Condition of the Lewis Chessmen in the Collection of the National Museums Scotland (Hebrides, late 12th-early 13th centuries) Histoire et état de surface des pièces d’échec de l’île de Lewis dans le musée National d’Écosse (Hébrides, fi n XIIe/début XIIIe siècles) J. Tate *, I. Reiche **, F. Pinzari ***, J. Clark * and D. Caldwell * Abstract: Th is paper summarises on-going work to examine the surface condition of the 11 chess pieces in the collection of the National Museums Scotland. Th e chess pieces are part of the hoard found on the isle of Lewis on the west coast of Scotland and are remarkable examples of medieval ivory carving. Th e aim of the work is to characterise surface features that can be used to draw new information about the materials from which the pieces were made, their history from the period of their manufacture until they were found in the fi rst part of the 19th century, and whether they were originally coloured. Th e chess pieces were examined using low-powered optical microscopy and non-destructive X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy. Modern samples of ivory were exposed to fungi under controlled conditions and the surface damage investigated using optical microscopy and controlled pressure scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Résumé : Cet article résume les travaux entrepris pour examiner l’état de la surface des onze pièces d’échecs conservées aux Musées Nationaux d’Ecosse. Ces pièces d’échecs font partie d’un trésor découvert sur l’île de Lewis, sur la côte ouest de l’Ecosse, et forment un exemple remarquable d’ivoire médiéval sculpté. Le but des analyses est de caractériser les éléments de la surface qui permettent d’obtenir des informations sur les matériaux composant les pièces, sur leur histoire, allant de l’époque de leur manufacture à celle de leur découverte au cours de la première moitié du XIXe siècle, et sur leur hypothétique couleur d’origine. Les pièces ont été examinées par microscopie optique à faible puissance et soumises à une analyse non destructrice par fl uorescence X. Des échantillons d’ivoire moderne ont été exposés sous contrôle à des moisissures et les dégâts de surface ont été étudiés par microscopie optique ainsi qu’au microscope électronique à balayage à pression contrôlée avec un système d’analyse X dispersif en énergie. Keywords: Chessmen, Cinnabar, Mycorrhizal fungi, Surface damage, Walrus Ivory, Sperm whale. Mots clés : Cinabre, Cachalot, Détérioration superfi cielle, Ivoire de morse, Mycorrhizes, Pièces d’échecs. 1. INTRODUCTION sculpture that survive. Th e miniature fi gures, each carved in ivory and most less than 100mm tall, have charm and Th e Lewis Chessmen (Figure 1) are widely recognized individual personalities. Some were clearly for playing chess, to be amongst the most appealing pieces of early medieval the game as we know it being comparatively new in nor- * National Museums Scotland – Edinburgh, EH5 1JA. ([email protected]) ** Laboratoire du Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (LC2RMF UMR 171 CNRS) – Palais du Louvre, 14, Quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris. *** Instituto Centrale per il Restauro e la Conservazione del Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario (ICRCPAL) – via Milano 76, 00184, Rome. rec. jan. 2011 ; acc. jul. 2011 ArcheoSciences, revue d’archéométrie, 28, 2011, p. 249-258 250 J. TATE et al. other versions, while both he and Caldwell et al. (2009) point out that the tales say more about the signifi cance of story telling in the Hebrides than about the history of the pieces. Even after they were discovered the history of the pieces has some gaps. Th ey were acquired from the fi nder by Roderick Ririe, who permitted their display in Edinburgh in April 1831 and then bought by T A Forrest who, after failing in Edinburgh, successfully sold the majority of them to the British Museum. Th us 82 pieces (6 Kings, 5 Queens, 13 Bishops, 14 Knights, 10 Warders, 19 Pawns Figure 1: (See colour plate) Th e 11 chessmen from Lewis in the NMS collection. or games pieces, and a small belt buckle also in ivory) were Figure 1 : (Voir planche couleur) Les onze pièces d’échecs de la collec- acquired by the BM in 1831/2 and were comprehensively tion du Musée National d’Écosse. published by the Keeper Sir Frederick Madden (Madden, 1832). However, Ririe had a further 11 pieces (10 from the hoard thern Europe when they were carved, but other non-fi gura- and a further piece which he obtained from Lewis) which tive pieces in the hoard may well have been for playing the he sold to Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, an Edinburgh dealer. Scandinavian board game hnefatafl (Caldwell et al., 2009). Th ese pieces remained with Sharpe until 1851 when they Where and how they were found is uncertain, with various were sold to Lord Londesborough, in whose collection they more or less plausible proposals having been enriched by remained until eventually, in 1888, they were acquired by good story telling since the early nineteenth century. Nor the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, now the do we know for sure where they were made, or for whom, National Museums Scotland (NMS): 2 Kings, 3 Queens, leading to attributions – and claims – from several diff erent 3 Bishops, 1 Knight and 2 Warders. countries. Although there are many other carved playing Th e collecting history of the chess pieces has been outli- pieces the questions raised by the Lewis hoard continues ned to illustrate that there are several possible scenarios in to intrigue scholars and the public alike, while the fi gures the life of the pieces since they were carved in the late 12th or themselves retain their enigmatic expressions – resigned, early 13th century and deposited (however this came about) worried, fi erce, bored, or just generally preoccupied. in the hoard not long afterwards (Caldwell et al., 2009 and It has been generally accepted that the hoard was found 2010). Were they buried in a sand dune, or in a vaulted in 1831 in Uig, on the west coast of the island of Lewis. chamber? Does the buckle mean that some or all were Surprisingly there is little direct contemporary evidence, and together in a bag? Were they recovered earlier than 1831 recent research (Caldwell et al., 2009) has proposed that and kept in diff erent conditions? And when they moved Mèalasta, still on the coast but several miles south of Uig into private and public collections what was done to clean Strand, is possibly a more likely location. It was not long and preserve them? before various diff erent legends about their fi nding became Th e purpose of this study on the 11 pieces now in the established. Madden (1832) says that they were found by a NMS collection was to see whether the surface condi- “peasant… while digging a sand bank”. Wilson (1851) says tion of the pieces might help to understanding their his- that the peasant found the pieces in a “small subterranean tory. Th e pieces have often been illustrated and described stone building like an oven, some depth beneath the surface”. (Glenn, 2003; Stratford, 1997; Robinson, 2009; Caldwell By 1861 Th omas (1863) reported an earlier and far more et al., 2009 and 2010) as well as being on permanent dis- elaborate story told by Donald Morrison who died in 1834, play. However, for the reasons outlined above they were not which starts in the early 17th century with a seaman escaping included in the fi rst and fullest account by Madden (1832) from a shipwreck with a bag containing “the wealth the ship who noted particularly how a number of the pieces newly was supposed to contain”. Th e sailor was observed and killed, acquired by the BM had traces of red colour. Nor were the but when the contents of the bag were examined his mur- NMS pieces included in the technical examination under- derer decided that they were too incriminating and went taken at the BM department of scientifi c research repor- some 10 miles to bury them in a sand bank in Uig – where ted by Stratford (1997). A more comprehensive study is they remained until found in 1831 by Malcolm Macleod. now planned of the full collection from the hoard in both Robinson (2009) notes how a cow joins into the story in museums to allow more detailed comparison of the surface ArcheoSciences, revue d’archéométrie, 35, 2011, p.
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