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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Whilst the British Government consistently try to avoid dealing with the issue fo the Elgin Marbles, the devolved Scottish Parliament has indicated that it supports their return.

From:
Scotsman

Scots ministers seek Elgin Marbles’ return
Published Date: 28 June 2009
By By Eddie Barnes Political Editor

THE Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece and displayed at the new Acropolis Museum, the Scottish Government has declared.
Ministers say that there is a clear right for the priceless sculptures – currently housed in the British Museum in London – to be returned to their place of origin, where they were removed in 1801 by the British diplomat Lord Elgin.

The pressure for the move has increased in recent weeks after the opening of the Acropolis Museum in the shadow of the Parthenon. Previously, it has been claimed that there was no adequate place to house the marbles.
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