More coverage of the exhibition of the exhibition of the partially reunited Lewis Chessmen in Edinburgh

From:
Scotsman

Art review: Lewis Chessmen – Unmasked
Published Date: 26 May 2010
By Duncan Macmillan
LEWIS CHESSMEN: UNMASKED ****
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH

IN BRAVEHEART, our national hero is impersonated by an Australian. He paints his face like a football fan and seems to have had Billy Connolly as a voice coach. But if that is a travesty of Wallace, the portrayal of his followers as uncouth, unkempt and unwashed is worse. Sadly, however, when they appear in film, our ancestors are generally represented as wild men from the woods, a bunch of hairy bikers strayed from Mad Max, the film in which it was no doubt Mel Gibson’s performance that led someone to imagine he was qualified to play Wallace. That’s not flattering.

The exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland devoted to the Lewis Chessmen should dispose of the hairy biker myth, however. Much of our medieval heritage has been destroyed, but what survives makes it clear that the Scots, Lowland and Highland, were as sophisticated as anybody else in northern Europe. As elsewhere, wealth was largely in the hands of the crown, the church and the aristocracy, but all saw art as a means to prestige, patronage, comfort, or pleasure. The chessmen belonged to this world, but their exact origin is a mystery. It seems most likely they were found in or near the parish of Uig in Lewis around 200 years ago. They first appear on the record in an article in The Scotsman in 1831.
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A response to the coverage of the loan of some of the Lewis Chessmen to Scotland.

As with most restitution cases, there are few in the home country against reunifying the artefacts, yet within the country that currently holds them, there are far greater levels of support for retention. One has to ask, whether Britain’s general lack of support for restitution would be different if we had large amounts of our artefacts trapped in museums abroad?

From:
Scotsman

Letter: Chess carve-up
Published Date: 22 May 2010

While it is fantastic to see 34 of the collection of 93 Lewis Chessmen go on tour in Scotland, starting with an exhibition at the National Museum (your report, 21 May), it is now time for the return of all the 12th-century chessmen to Scotland and preferably to the Western Isles.
Of the 93 chessmen, only 11 are in Edinburgh while 82 are in the British Museum in London, with 23 of these to be briefly “loaned” north of the Border. Division of the set is unacceptable and it is simply not good enough that they are occasionally lent back.

ALEX ORR
Bryson Road
Edinburgh

More coverage of the (temporary) exhibition reuniting some of the Lewis Chessmen from the British Museum with those in Edinburgh.

From:
Scotsman

Lewis chessmen reunited with mates
Published Date: 21 May 2010
By Tim Cornwell

AFTER years of political point-scoring over their rightful home, more than 30 of the historic Lewis chessmen go on show in Edinburgh today in an exhibition expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors.

“The Lewis Chessmen: Unmasked” runs for four months at the National Museum of Scotland. It incorporates 23 Lewis chess pieces and other artefacts from the British Museum – the first loan of any chessmen to Edinburgh in 14 years – alongside all 11 pieces in Scotland’s own collection.
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It is now nearly a year since the New Acropolis Museum opened in Athens. This museum has led to a big increase for the visitor figures to museums in Greece – hopefully once the newness wears off its popularity will continue.

From:
Agence France Presse

Greece museum visitors increase by 40 percent
(AFP) – Apr 12, 2010

ATHENS — The number of visitors to Greek museums jumped by 41 percent last year compared to 2008, whilst fewer made trips to its archaeological sites, the national statistics service said Monday.

The hike in visitor numbers to 2,813,548 was largely due to the opening of a new Acropolis museum in Athens that brought in over 800,000 people.
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Some further coverage of the news that some of the Lewis Chessmen will be loaned to Scotland temporarily, but that they will definitely not be returning long term. As expected, many are not happy with this decision by the British Museum.

From:
Press and Journal

Letters Page
Published: 02/10/2009
Lewis Chessmen returning

SIR, – I refer to your story (October 1) about the Lewis Chessmen returning to Scotland.

Once again, the authorities have graced us with their kindness, and agreed to “lend” the nation of Scotland her own items of cultural significance. How thoroughly decent of them.

The Scottish Government should be applauded and criticised in equal measure. We have seen the Stone of Destiny, arguably Scotland’s most important historical and cultural item, return to its rightful place, but with steel shackles attached. And now, some more of the Lewis Chessmen return to their adopted homeland, but please do not get comfortable, as England wants them back.
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As anticipated, an announcement has been made that some of the Lewis Chessmen will return to Scotland. The British Museum has also used the announcement though to make it clear that they never intend on these artefacts to leave the institution permanently – if anything making their views on the subject clearer & more emphatic than before, falling back again on the justification of the widely discredited Universal Museum argument.

From:
Press and Journal

October 2, 2009
Lewis Chessmen go north — but they’re just visiting
Tom Maxwell

The Lewis Chessmen are being brought north for an important tour of Scotland after the SNP government said it would contribute £75,000 towards the costs of a new exhibition to be staged by the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland.

Nationalist ministers remain committed to the long-term goal of bringing the 12th-century figures to Scotland on a permanent basis, and hope the exhibition will further that aim.
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More coverage of the expected news that some of the Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum will be loaned to Scotland’s National Museum temporarily.

From:
Press and Journal

Chessmen to make move back to Scotland
Checkmate for First Minister as iconic Lewis pieces are finally repatriated
By Cameron Brooks
Published: 01/10/2009

CULTURE Minister Mike Russell is expected to announce today that the British Museum in London has agreed to return some of the world’s most famous chess pieces to Scotland.

The Press and Journal understands that trustees will lend the National Museum of Scotland a substantial number of the 82 Lewis Chessmen pieces it holds on a temporary basis.
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A announcement is expected to be made shortly, that some of the Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum will temporarily be returned to Edinburgh. This follows numerous public demands in the past for their return.

Whilst it is great that the British Museum is finally seeing the sense of making artefacts more accessible to those who culturally identify with them, this particular exercise suggests that it is acceptable to return artefacts that were legally purchased, whilst the many that were acquired in questionable circumstances are not suitable candidates for being reunified. I’m not quite sure what we should understand from this.

From:
Scotsman

Lewis Chessmen to be reunited in Scotland for first time in 150 years
Published Date: 01 October 2009
By David Maddox
Scottish Political Correspondent

MANY of the 93 Lewis chessmen housed in London and Edinburgh will be reunited for the first time for more than 150 years for a tour of Scotland, it will be announced today.

Culture minister Mike Russell will unveil details of a deal with the British Museum to temporarily reunite the 12th-century chessmen found on a beach on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.
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An interesting story only because of its location in Elgin (yes – I know that Lord Elgin’s house was not actually in Elgin). A local museum wants artefacts returned, or compensation for artefacts that are being held onto by a national museum that they were sent to for research purposes.

From:
Numismaster

Museums Squabble Over Treasure Coins
By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
July 20, 2009

Usually the British treasure trove laws work favorably to protect the amateur finder, professional archaeologists and museums that may become involved in any find. I said, “Usually.”

In recent years, all sorts of artifacts have been found in a field at Clarkly Hill in Burghead, Scotland, by people with metal detectors. Among the many artifacts are some Roman coins, two gold finger rings believed to date from the fifth and the 12th centuries, a gold earring believed to be Roman, and some odd and curious or primitive gold ring money understood to date from the Bronze Age.
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The British Museum is trying to make the Lewis Chessmen the central feature of a new gallery, in the hope that this will weaken the argument for their return to Scotland.

From:
Evening Standard (London)

Your move … Scots want chess set back
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent
25.03.09

THE BRITISH Museum has put a set of elaborately carved chess figures at the heart of a new gallery despite demands that they be returned to Scotland.

The 82 Lewis Chessmen, which are between 800 and 900 years old and made from walrus and whale ivory, were seen in a Harry Potter film and inspired the children’s TV series Noggin The Nog.
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Despite setbacks along the way, after ten years of campaigning, the Ngarrindjeri tribe are accepting the return of a number of Aboriginal artefacts from institutions in Scotland. Like many other such repatriations made in recent years, this has only been made possible by a change in the law in the form of the Human Tissue Act 2004.

From:
The Times

From The Times
July 8, 2008
Scotland hands back Aborigine relics
Charlene Sweeney

With a simple but symbolic whorl of smoke, a group of Aborigines began the long-awaited process of repatriating their ancestors’ remains from a Scottish museum to their homeland.

The Ngarrindjeri, who have been campaigning for the return of the relics for ten years, sent a delegation to Edinburgh to accept ownership of six Aborigine skulls from the National Museums of Scotland, and a fragment of a woman’s skull from the University of Edinburgh.
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