The Isle of Lewis chessmen, one of Scotland’s most famous pieces of craft, was the inspiration for the fascinating International exhibition ‘Chess’ which has involved 90 artists from 10 different countries and is currently touring the UK.

British artist Tom Hill had the exciting idea of creating an exhibition of chess pieces after seeing the famous chess set in the British Museum. He then assisted the Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco to curate the exhibition which opened to co-incide with the Society of North American Goldsmiths annual conference.

Over two years more than 250 pieces, including two complete chess sets, were created for the exhibition by metalsmiths from all over the world. Each maker was asked for a single piece but most wanted to do more, and the show is continuing to grow as it travels to different venues.

Twelve Scottish makers created chess pieces for the exhibition – Gregor Anderson, Peter Chang , Jack Cunningham, Dawn Emms, Eileen Gatt, Anna Gordon, Dorothy Hogg, Marion Kane, Andrew Lamb, Ann Little, Grant McCaig and Adam Paxon . Visit our selection of Scottish work to see their pieces.

The inspiration behind the Queen by Eileen Gatt, who is based on the Black Isle, was to represent where she lives in an abstract way. Her piece is reminiscent of a cold, frosty mountain with a bird of top. She added texture and a sense of the mysterious by etching words from Victorian love letters onto the mountain.

Although ‘Chess’ has already visited Scotland, there are still opportunities to see it in the UK. It is on at The Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre, Park Road, Ruthin, Denbighshire, North Wales from15 November until 4 January 2004, where a chess set by Lucy Casson will be added to the exhibition. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 10am – 5 pm and Sunday 12 noon to 5pm. Free admission and parking.

The exhibition then moves to the Crafts Council Shop in the Victoria and Albert Museum from 4 February to 4 March 2004 during Collect, before travelling to the Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin and Thomas Mann’s Gallery I/O in New Orleans.