By Robbie LaFleur

Frida Hansen’s monumental 1903 tapestry, Sørover [Southward], was owned by a New York weaving teacher and socialite, Berthea Aske Bergh. It was publicly displayed many times until 1930, when references ceased. It remained missing until Peter Pap, a noted rug dealer, found it tucked in a plastic tub in 2020 – safe, dusty, but in perfect condition. You can read several articles about the rediscovery, beginning with “Frida Hansen’s Sørover.”

Frida Hansen. Sørover (Southward), 1903

While Southward was found and revealed to the world again, the mystery was not completely solved. Where had the tapestry been since 1930, and up until the time it was likely purchased by its last owner, antique dealer David McInnis, around 2010? A piece of that puzzle came to light through family history research by a relative of Berthea Aske Bergh’s son’s wife.

It appears that Berthea Aske Bergh, the owner of Frida Hansen’s tapestry, Southward, passed it on to her son, Norman Bergh, when she died in 1954. Norman Bergh died on November 25, 1958, in Keene, New Hampshire. He was married to Elizabeth White Griffin Bergh, who died only three years later, in 1961, in the same town.

Elizabeth White Griffin Bergh’s 1^st cousin twice removed, William Griffin, was doing some family history sleuthing when he ran across a listing of the household contents at auction after Elizabeth’s death in 1961. Southward was listed!

Norman and Elizabeth Bergh had no children and their belongings were sold. William Griffin was researching this list because he was interested in where some of the Griffin family heirlooms may have gone. He believes the prices listed were the starting bids for the auction, held July 21-22, 1961. The handwritten sums are prices paid by his grandfather, who bid on several items.

Neither William Griffin nor his living relatives know much about Elizabeth Larson Griffin Bergh or her husband Norman, Berthea Aske Bergh’s son. Elizabeth learned to weave from her mother-in-law, and the auction also listed a “Norwegian tapestry loom.” The relatives think that Berthea Aske Bergh lived with her son and his wife at the time of her death. It’s nice to think that she kept Southward until her death, and had not sold it, which was my guess. Frida Hansen’s tapestry stayed with its first owner for just over 50 years.

William Griffin did not have much information on Berthea Aske Bergh, other than an interesting brochure I had not seen, promoting her services as a lecturer. See more text from the brochure or the full brochure.

William Griffin also found a brochure from the National Arts Club in NYC that uncovers yet another venue where Berthea Aske Bergh exhibited Southward and other tapestries. I will add it to the list in this article: “Southward on Display.”

Questions remain. Who bought the tapestry at auction in New Hampshire in 1961? Was it just one person who owned it until around 2010, when it was purchased by David McInnis? Perhaps I’ll be surprised sometime by another email like William Griffin’s, which started with, “You might find this interesting…”

November 2022

Robbie LaFleur is a weaver and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been following a thread of Scandinavian textiles since she studied weaving at Valdres Husflidskole in Fagernes, Norway, in 1977. She is a Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Gold Medalist in weaving, coordinates the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group, and publishes the Norwegian Textile Letter. Contact: lafleur1801@me.com. Blog: robbielafleur.com. Instagram: robbie_lafleur