Go to the Cloisters, catch a thorough glimpse of the Lewis Chessmen before they return to London! Hurry hurry, ends April 22!
I love these little creatures. The pensive queen, the solemn horses. When I was little, my dad bought a plaster mould set (like this one) so we could cast our own chessmen and paint them.
There was something so familiar and emotional about them even back then.
Perhaps because I, like most people up in the North (and many Japanese?) grew up with the images and stories of Tove Jansson.
Look at this image of a knight so ready to go into battle he almost can't contain himself, he's chewing on his shield while waiting for the actual confrontation. He looks like someone, doesn't he, Tove Jansson?
He looks a lot like Mårran. At least to me. At least to the child I once was.
Here's a picture of Tove.
