Lewis Schachfigur um knappe $1Million verkauft infographic
Grafik mit der Geschichte der Lewis Schachfiguren und wo sie gefunden wurden.
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Auktion einer lange verschollenen Schachfigur

July 2, 2019 - Eine mittelalterliche Schachfigur, die 1964 um $14 gekauft worden und dann 55 Jahre in einer Schublade in einem Haus in Edinburgh gut aufgehoben war, erzielte in einer Auktion den Rekordpreis von $928.000.

The owners of an 800-year-old Viking chess piece had no idea of its importance or that it was one of the long-lost Lewis Chessmen that were found buried in a sand dune on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.

Since the find, five pieces have remained at large – one knight and four warders. The one sold by Sotheby’s on Tuesday is a warder (the medieval equivalent of a rook in modern chess).

The Lewis Chessmen include seated kings, queens, bishops, knights and standing warders and pawns.

They are thought to have been produced in Trondheim, Norway, between 1150 and 1200AD – the end of the viking era.

Some 82 pieces are held in the British Museum, with a further 11 pieces held by the National Museum of Scotland. As well as the chess pieces, the hoard included a buckle, suggesting they had originally been stored in a bag and possibly deliberately buried to keep them safe.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 03/07/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Sotheby’s
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