LONDON — A chess piece purchased for a few pounds by an antiques dealer in Scotland in 1964 has been identified as one of the 900-year-old Lewis Chessmen, among the greatest artifacts of the Viking era. Sotheby’s auction house said Monday that the chess piece is expected to bring between 600,000 pounds ($670,000) and 1 million pounds ($1.26 million) at an auction next month. ADVERTISEMENTThe Lewis Chessmen are intricate, expressive chess pieces in the form of Norse warriors, carved from walrus ivory in the 12th century. A hoard of 93 pieces was discovered in 1831 on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis. It is now held in both the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh — but five of the chess pieces were missing.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 03, 2019 12:45 UTC