The Lewis Chessmen
I think these are the coolest chess-people ever invented: Vikings. About 900 years old, discovered (some say by a cow) in a remote Scottish isle, about 200 year ago. Documentary here: The Lewis Chessmen – seemingly originating from Trondheim, Norway in the 12th Century. 93 of them – which would tend to suggest they belonged to someone trading them… or delivering a commission, rather than being someone’s personal gaming-set. 93 is quite a lot for chess, even in 12th Century Norway. Still – my best friend at school had a repro set of these chess pieces back in the day. These little people have been a presence in my life for a long long time. So anyway: Which I think looks pretty convincing. Ordinarily you can take “examples of the golden mean in art that feature the human body” with a massive grain of salt with regards “was it consciously…