Viking Chess Set - The Lewis Chessmen Found near Uig on the Isle of Lewis in a sand dune in 1831 these chess pieces now are split between the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland. The 93 pieces were made in Norway between 1150 - 1200. During that time these island off the north coast of Scotland were part of the Kingdom of Norway. The pieces closely follow the fashions of the court of Trondheim and a similar piece has been found there that was broken in times past. Probably left by a merchant who never returned to claim them. These pieces were carved in walrus ivory and whale teeth and form the major pieces for four sets of major pieces and some pawns. You have seen the chessmen in many movies including the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movie.
Odin hangs upside down from Yggdrasil, the Norse World Tree
He is given no food or drink and nine nights pass. Then Odin sees the shapes of the runes. Crying out, he catches up the runes and falls from the tree and proclaims "From a word to a word was I lead"
Odin himself is shown in several ways,
A pendant of Odin with his blind eye, club foot and ravens around his head.
A helm plaque from the Vendel digs riding his horse sleipnir, "The Sliding One" with two ravens around his head.
Finally we have a pendant showing the world beast with the words of Odin in rune like letters!
Combs are some of the oldest tools dating back at least 5,000 years! There are many finds both in burial finds and lone finds.
So how were they used?
If you look at Roman paintings you find neatly combed hair in both men and women. In later Saxon and Viking times you can again refer back to the helm plaques at both the finds at Birka, Vendel and Sutton Hoo. You find warriors with neatly combed shoulder length hair.
A very fine tooth comb was used to remove fleas and is often called a "nit comb". The expression "go over with a fine-toothed comb" meaning "to search out in minute detail" comes from these combs. It took a lot of time and care to use a "nit comb"
A comb must have been a necessary part of any good Viking, Saxon, Roman kit!
Married women had a very strong position during Viking times. Keys helped express this. When a couple was married, the wife was given a set of keys to symbolize her new status. The bronze keys hung in full sight on her clothing and opened the strongboxes and padlocks of the household. When the god Thor had his Thor’s hammer stolen by the giants, the disguise he used to steal it back was a woman's costume – with a bunch of rattling keys.
There are a large number of keys from Viking times both in female graves and as individual findings. Bronze keys were often small works of art worn on a Viking woman's costume. Often the designs used intertwined animal figures. The day she got married, she got the keys to the farm doors and treasure chests as a visible sign of her position and power.
Life in a turf house with dirt floors and animals underfoot presented challenges to personal hygiene. Lice were an ever present nuisance. Toiletry kits were a necessity."
Vikings The North Atlantic Saga by William Fitzhugh, pg 151
There were wide selection of both Viking and Saxon toiletry items, from full chatelaine kits Chatelaine Roman women wore chatelaines with ear scoops, nail cleaners and tweezers. In Roman Britain, 'chatelaine brooches' were worn. Anglo-Saxon women wore a chatelaine and there is even one find of a Russian Viking chatelaine.
There are many individual pieces
Ear spoons
Ear spoons or ear picks are found dating from Roman times and have been commonly found in Viking digs and Anglo-Saxon digs dating from the 9th Cenury.
Tweezers Tweezers are a very old tool. There are drawings of Egyptian craftsmen holding hot pots over ovens with a double-bow shaped tool and tweezers commonly used in Mesopotamia from about 3000 BCE, perhaps for catching lice!
Scissors Scissors were probably invented in Egypt about 1500 BC. These were spring scissors comprising of bronze blades held together with a bronze strip and were used until the 16th C.
And Combs Combs are one of the oldest tools, dating back perhaps 5000 years ago from Persia. A nit comb had teeth fine enough to remove fleas. That became "go over with a fine toothed comb" meaning to go over carefully in deal!
During the reign of King Henry VIII the portrait miniature became popular. This was a time when most artists did not sign their work, but many of these miniatures during this period are attributed to Hans Holbein. Holbein is now most famous for his paintings, but Holbein also worked with miniatures and did designs for goldsmiths and jewelers.
Not many of the frames have survived, most being broken up for their jewels!
Elizabeth I by Nicholas Hillard ca. 1600 is the inspiration for one of our portrait holders we are proud to be bringing out of the vault!
We have also added a new piece based on a round portrait miniature.
When the Vikings brought home their booty from their raiding, merchanting and serving foreign Kings, they accumulated a wide variety of goods.Some of these accusations influenced generations of viking art styles.The triangular frank sword fittings became the Viking Trefoil brooches.The Viking craftsmen soon made their own designs of Trefoil brooches and were no longer dependent on raiding parties bringing more of the precious pieces home.
In looking at the 35 pendants that make up the necklace from a hoard find, Krasse, Guldrupe, Gotland, Sweden, Gold, Silver and bronze are fishtail shaped, I cannot help but think of a piece of costume from Byzantium.The superhumeral, an elaborate embroidered and sometime jeweled collar. When extensions wear added to the superhumeral, it became a pallium.
I have to think that this hoard find was inspired by the travels of some Viking Varangian serving the Byzantine empire.He must have returned home and commissioned these pendants.
Here is a piece we were able to photograph at the Viking Exhibit that was at the Field Museum in Chicago this fall.
The piece was based on a mold that was made in soapstone and found at Bjorko, Adelso, Uppland, Sweden.
What is very interesting is the fact that the reconstruction follows the mold piece exactly.Is that what the artist intended?If you look at the piece and mold, it becomes pretty obvious that the artist in all probability intended the "sprew" on the mold to be cut off.The "sprew" does not have any decoration and was simply in the mold to allow the metal to flow to fill the entire piece.
Historical pieces, when we try and reproduce them, are examined and the original artist's intention are considered in the reproductions we make.This is an excellent example of the work we put to use in our interpretations.
Jackets with triangular overlapping front panels is often shown in Viking and Saxon art is what I refer to as a warrior coat.There are fragments from the digs at Hedeby that show the triangular front panels.In Saxon finds are finds of tablet weaving running down the front of the body, obviously edge decoration as shown on the helmet plaques.
See the Warrior Jacket I was wearing at Toys-for-Tots
In Viking art you can see these on the helmet plates from the Vendel (pre-Viking Sweden culture) mound burials.
You can also see the Warrior Jacket in dies found in Birka
In the Anglo-Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo, you have helm plates also showing the same warrior coats
The plates often show a belt closure on the coat.Brooches were also used as closures for the coats.At Birka are found Penannular brooches or ringed pins found as closures at hip level.
You can also see a very similar warriors coat used throughout northern regions from England to China!
Foreign Customers! The American Post Office on Sunday July 12th updated their rates and did away with the entire postal first class letters over 1/4” thick. I would have to send...
