Ivory Chess Piece Worth a Fortune

Guest: Alexander Kader, Senior Director & Head, European Sculpture and Works of Art Department, Sotheby’s London Interested about its value, a family in the UK brought their mother’s prized ivory chess figure in for appraisal. In a shocking turn of events, the appraiser Alexander Kader immediately recognized the piece as one of the Lewis Chessman and estimated the piece’s worth to be as much as £1m, a pretty good return on investment for a piece that the family’s grandfather had purchased for only £5. What are the Lewis Chessman, then? And what makes them so valuable?