Records from 1863 identify Malcolm MacLeod as the discoverer of the Lewis chessmen from Pennydonald. Earlier accounts credited an unnamed local peasant with finding these items near Uig Bay on the Isle of Lewis.
The Lewis chessmen likely date between 1150 and 1200 AD. Many experts believe Trondheim, Norway served as the manufacturing hub for these artifacts while other researchers argue for Icelandic or Hebridean production instead.
Walrus ivory forms the body of almost every piece in this collection while whale teeth appear only rarely. The seventy-nine chess pieces comprise eight kings, eight queens, sixteen bishops, fifteen knights, thirteen warders, and nineteen pawns.
Four major pieces and many pawns remain missing from the original sets discovered over two centuries ago. An unrecognised warder emerged in Edinburgh and sold for £735,000 at Sotheby's auction in June 2019.
Six British Museum pieces are sent to the Museum nam Eilan on Lewis for long-term display starting in 2015. Thirty-four pieces loaned from the British Museum appeared at The Cloisters in New York City until the 22nd of April 2012.