The Isle of Lewis (pronounced Lews) is one of the Heberdian Islands, located off the west coast of Scotland. In 1831 a peasant chasing a cow near Uig discovered an underground chamber that had been buried and undiscovered for hundreds of years, recently uncovered by eroding sand. There, he discovered 93 chessmen carved from the ivory of walrus tusks and whale teeth. The pieces are believed to have been carved between 1150 and 1170 A.D. Of Norse or Icelandic origin, they are the most complete set of chessmen in existence today, possibly pieces from four different incomplete sets. They were purchased by the British Museum for a paltry sum of 84 pounds in November of 1831. In 1888, eleven of the pieces were acquired from the BM by the Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland.

In my opinion, the best reproduction set I have found anywhere is from eBay seller turtlepaintedgreen. They're made of gypsum cement, not resin or other form of plastic, so they feel like stone. They're very faithful to the originals and each piece is a little different, represneting more of the original pieces, rather than the opposing sides being identical and just a different color. For these reasons, this is my favorite Lewis set.