Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Volume 5, No. 2, February 1999. (Additional notes follow the article.)
Wall hanging in Vestfoldsmett woven by Lila Nelson. Owned by Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
By Lila Nelson
A surprising variety of woven bed covers have been a part of the Norwegian folk tradition, but there is an equally surprising dearth of information about them. Their origins, dates, history, the looms on which they were woven, sources of dyes, all are in many cases open to speculation. In fact, disagreement continues about whether some weaving was done by farm women or professionals and even if some types actually ever served as bed covers at all.
Vestfoldsmett is certainly a case in point. Ragnar Norby, in 1948 one of the first to write about the technique, stated that only 8 or 9 known examples exist and it appeared to be a local specialty. Erling Eriksen’s 13-page monograph from 1955, which seems to be the major study extant, reveals how much is left to learn. Former curator at the district museum in Tonsberg, he indicates that at an exhibition in 1925, when local people were invited to bring their family pieces, a Mrs. Meyer arrived with two coverlets in an unfamiliar technique. Director Gulliksen asked the Norwegian Handcraft Association to make some copies and the discovery of more coverlets followed, thanks mainly to the interest and hard work of Ragnar Norby, who was a teacher in Larvik and a member of the Larvik Handcraft Association.
Where, Eriksen asks, did country weavers in Vestfold get the models for these unique tapestries? Norby, Eriksen, and other Norwegian scholars argue that they derive from the Orient, possible based on the soumak technique; but how they got to Vestfold is unknown. Some consider an impulse from Sweden, where a similar weave (krabbasnar) had tradition, though that, unlike Vestfoldsmett, often had a linen ground.
Neither is there a solid basis for dating the coverlets since only one piece, from Svarstad, had the date 1840 actually woven in, and that is presumed to be the last one. The Kunstindustrimuseet example has a partially illegible date 17_2 which is interpreted as possible being 1762. There seems to be a general acceptance of them having been produced in the 18th and 19th centuries, but proof is lacking. Aase Bay Sjøvold, former textile curator at the Kunstindustrimuseet, speculates that various generations in just one family could have been responsible for the entire output; others say that the work has to have been done at least in part by professionals.
Eriksen points out that none of the coverlets seem to originate along the coast but rather are found inland in Vestfold. He attributes this to economic factors, noting that the inner areas had wider economic distinctions and more defined economic classes. Some farmers developed big farms and in addition made extra money by lumbering. The landowners therefore had two sources of income while the non-landowners might in desperation turn to crafts such as weaving, especially since there was a wealthy class in a position to buy prestigious textiles. On the coastal areas, where farms were smaller and people were either farmers or fishermen, the economic distinctions were less extreme. People were generally satisfactorily situated but were not wealthy enough to be able to afford luxury textiles. Eriksen, by these assumptions, reveals his belief that Vestfoldsmett were considered better than the everyday bed covers.
From my own examination of six Vestfold coverlets, however, I question that they were all made by professionals for a luxury class. One of them in particular shows the marks of an amateur weaver and several reveal casual and erratic methods of handling the loose pattern threads on the back side. I also wonder if they were not used quite steadily as functional coverlets because three or more show definite evidence along the sides of the wear that comes from frequent handling.
Granting that the inland Vestfold areas were economically open to a weaving industry, this still does not tell us why this particular technique found favor there. Similar questions apply to other areas of the country; for example, we can only speculate why Norwegian folk picture tapestries flourished in Gudbrandsdal and hardly anywhere else for over a hundred years in the 1600s and 1700s. Neither does it tell us from where the style came and what influences were at work in its development.
From the middle 1800s to around 1925, it appears that Vestfoldsmett was largely forgotten. With its surfacing at the Tonsberg exhibition, it begins to show up in altered and greatly simplified forms on objects other than coverlets. It serves as decorative bands on the ends of table runners or in spots of decoration on pillows. The results did not please Ragnar Nordby, who in his 1948 article describes them as a disaster. He calls for a return to the quality of the originals, but he is largely ignored. Modern adaptations have continued to the present day.
Graphed information for coverlets on which I have done sight examination
The name indicates where the coverlet was located, not necessarily where it was made. The last listing relates to a coverlet now in the Kunstindustrimseet in Oslo; The others are in the Tønsberg, Vestfold, museum.
Dovleteppet (the word “teppet” is also used to mean “coverlet”)
Size: L 62 ½” W 52 ½”
Warp: 2-ply linen ca. 6.40 epi
Ground weft: ca. 7/2 2-ply wool
Pattern weft: ground used doubled. Some use thinner wool
Colors: white, gold-white, yellow, dk blue, lt blue, orange, red, lt beige, dk beige, black sheep, dk green
No. bands: 10
Joining bands: diamond, arrow, zigzag inlays bordered by kjerringtenner
Center joining seam overcast with medium heavy linen
Døvleteppet. Details from digitaltmuseum.no
Sandar coverlet
Size: L 75 ½” W 55”
Warp: medium heavy 2-ply linen ca. 7 epi
Ground weft: medium heavy 2-ply wool
Pattern weft: ground used double
Colors: white gold, yellow-gold, dk blue, pink-beige, brown
No. bands: 12
Joining bands: three-thread floats with kjerringtenner
Center joining seam in running stitch with medium heavy linen
Sandarteppe. Details from digitaltmuseum.no
Stokke coverlet
Size: L 63” W 51”
Warp:2-ply linen ca. 6.40 epi
Ground weft: ca. 7/2, 2-ply wool
Pattern weft: ground used double
Colors: white, gold, grey-green, red, dk blue
No. bands:13
Joining bands: diamond, arrow inlay, kjeffingtenner
Center joining seam in running stitch with linen
Inscription: embroidered initials ITD
Stokketeppe. Details from digitaltmuseet.no
Andebu coverlet
Size: L 63” W 53”
Warp: heavy 2-ply linen ca. 6.40 epi
Ground weft: heavy 2-ply wool, rya type
Pattern weft: ground used double, some thinner wool
Colors: white, gold, 2 shades green, rust, red, brown, dk blue
No. bands: 10
Joining bands: diamond, arrow, zigzag inlays, kjerringtenner
Center Joining seam in running stich with linen
Andebuteppe. Details at digitaltmuseet.no.
AGD coverlet
Size: L 64” 49½”
Warp: heavy 2-ply linen ca. 6.40 epi
Ground weft: medium heavy 2-ply wool
Pattern weft: ground used double, some use of single ply
Colors: medium gold, dk gold, reddish brown, dk blue, lt blue
No. bands: 11
Joining bands: diamond, arrow, zigzag inlays, kjerringtenner borders
Center joining seam not noted
Inscription: embroidered initials and date:
AG(?)D 17 (6?)2
This 1762 coverlet, the “Askjemteppet,” is owned by the Nasjonalmuseet (formerly the Kunstindustrimuseet). See the full record.
Seen only in Xeroxed photographs:
Sverstad coverlet (dated 1840)
Hoyjord coverlet
Solum coverlet (at Brekkemuseet)
Aske coverlet (privately owned)
Weaving Technique
As noted above, the warp is generally a heavy linen with a sett of 6.40 to 7 ends per inch. The ground is tightly packed weft-faced plain weave. All sources have taken for granted that the pattern was lain in on the loom, although Aase Bay Sjøvold points out that no one knows this for certain. There is, however, no extension of pattern threads going across the center joining seams, one indicator of embroidery. It is also unlikely that thread-count embroidery would be attempted on a tightly packed wool foundation.
All directions state that the technique is done wrong side up using butterflies for the pattern wefts, but again there is no certain proof. In my own experiments, I have worked right side up using a straight length of weft instead of butterflies because 1) there is less chance of making an error, and easier to spot an error, and 2) it is preferable when weaving free rather than thread-counted designs and when other techniques are included.
Two shots of foundation weft appeared to be standard between each pattern inlay although I could not examine coverlets extensively enough to be sure this was constant. Most patterns floats were over two or over three warps. Patterns requiring longer floats appeared to be done in increments of two or three. Although some sources indicate that longer floats were done in soumak or figure eight fashion, I could not in my cursory investigation see evidence of this. It appeared that the weaver went over three warps, under two, and so on across the pattern area, then returning to fill in the previously uncovered warps. Any of the above three methods, however would seem to be workable and would look superficially similar when used, as in the case of Vestfoldsmett, in limited fashion.
Colors
As in aged textiles generally, colors have changed in varying degrees throughout the years, and one can sometimes only surmise what they originally were. Some have faded to a rather non-identifiable grayed tone. In 1979 Gunn Bremnes described tests she had made to determine the original colors of Dovleteppet and she concluded that they were natural white sheep, pale yellow, darker yellow, golden, orange, beige brown, sharp red, blue, and black. (The colors in Dovleteppet are generally better preserved than in many of the other pieces.) I will not go into the detailed studies with indigo and various plant dyes which Bremnes carried out, but she points to what is evident in most of the coverlets, the predominance of shades of gold and yellow. She mentions that birch trees, common in the area, were widely used to produce yellows. Blues are next in importance, along with natural white and black. Orange-red, pinkish beige and brownish-beige tones are also found, as is a grayed green. Generally, one can say that the colors vary a good deal from one coverlet to another, as do the designs, making for a wide variety of effects. Though the background color usually varies within each band of design, the Svarstad coverlet is said to be on an all-black ground.
Designs
All of the Vestfoldsmett coverlets have a series of horizontal bands, each with a different motif, the total number per coverlet varying from about 8 to 13. These are separated by narrow bands which always include kjerringtenner (two colors alternating on plain weave to produce a toothed effect) and very often inlaid diamonds, arrow, or zigzag forms. The total has been aptly described as continuously varied repetition. Each band is filled with a horizontally repeated motif which is built up of floating pattern wefts. The lines usually move diagonally by one or more threads as the pattern progresses, although some, especially the more geometric motifs, have three repeats before change, giving a block appearance. Ragnar Norby classifies the major designs as being urns of flowers, and he calls attention to 14 patterns: five with constantly changing lines, five with a primarily block orientation, and four with elaborately ornamented variations. Karin Archer stated that the Aske coverlet was described by its owner Martha Aske as symbolizing the story of life and growth in nature through stylized seeds, growing and blooming flowers, dancing figures, and rain. Other sources, however, question a specific symbolic significance in the motifs.
Bibliography
Andersen, Kirsten Gahrn.
RAMMEVAEV. G.E.C. Gads Forlag, Copenhagen, 1957. pp 42-51. In Danish.
Archer. Karin Fagerlund. “De gamle Vestfoldteppene” in NORSK HUSFLID, No. 3, 1975. pp 8-10. In Norwegian.
1 This inlay technique has often been called “Vestfoldteknikk”, but that term could be applied to any woven product associated with the province of Vestfold; whereas “Vestfoldsmett”, so-called by Stromberg etal in their NORDISK TEAXTILTEKNISK TERMINOLOGI, refers specifically to an inlay process. They classify it with the Swedish and Danish “krabbasnar”, the Icelandic “juoksupujotus”, defining them all as a folk type of two-harness brocade or in an older variant a brocade on a twill ground with double threads worked wrong side up.
2 Ragnar Norby. “Vestfoldteppe” in Yrke, No. 2, 1948, pp 29-33. He does not seem to be aware of one example in the Kunstindustrimuseet in Oslo, (Cat. No. 3781), which I saw in 1984.
3 Erling Eriksen. “Gammel vevkunst i Vestfolds bygder” in Vestfold Minne 1955. Translated by Torun Gulliksen 1983.
4 Karin Archer. “De gamle Vestfold Teppene” in Husflid, No. 3, 1975. Archer refers to the unmarried Meyer sisters from Nøtteroy.
5 Gunn Bremnes. “Om fargebruk i “Dovle-teppet” in Vestfold Minne 1979. pp. 30-34. Translated by Torun Gulliksen.