Editor’s note:  There’s a Minnesota connection to the Baldishol tapestry, or more correctly, a connection to Norwegian-American women across the United States.  A copy of the revered Baldishol tapestry was given to Mrs. Calvin Coolidge in 1926.  Did it ever hang in the White House?  Hermund Kleppa researched this event in 2010. This article originally appeared in the Kulturhistorisk Leksikon (Cultural History Encyclopedia), published by Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane (the County Archives of Sogn and Fjordane).

By Hermund Kleppa (translation by Robbie LaFleur)

 

On Tuesday, June 8, 1926, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge welcomed a delegation of women.  It was their honor to deliver a gift—a copy of the well-known Baldishol tapestry and a presentation book. 

In the magazine For By og Bygd, number 16, 7/8, 1926, there was a small piece with the title “Baldishol Tapestry to the Presidential Residence in Washington.” In that piece there were several threads to take hold of, several clues to follow to find out a bit more: the Baldishol Tapestry, those who gave the gift, and the people involved—Kristi Sekse, Mons Breidvik and Hans Dedekam.  What happened to the tapestry after Mrs. Coolidge accepted it for the White House? The author of this article takes hold of several threads and pulls them together. 

“The last copy that Kristi Sekse wove of the old Norwegian Baldishol tapestry, is now at home in “The White House” in Washington,  Five thousand Norwegian-American women who wished to have a commemoration of the Norwegian-American Centennial in the White House pooled their money and bought it. Later a delegation of women brought the gift that they gave to the First Lady, along with a book by Director Hans Dedekam on the tapestry, including a section of the contents in English, beautifully decorated [illustrated] and bound by Mons Breidvik.”

In a lecture by Mrs. Gisle Bothne, she noted, among other things: “Many thousand Norwegian-American women, from all areas of the country, came together to give a gift to the White House, and we were able to obtain a copy of the widely-known Baldishol Tapestry that was woven by a Norwegian woman in the 12th century.  This weaving is an exact copy of the Baldishol Tapestry and is woven with great care by a woman who has been counted among the greatest tapestry artists in modern Norway.”

Mrs. Coolidge gave thanks for the gift, and said, among other things, that when she came to the White House she thought there was too little of a personal aspect to the president’s residence.  She had tried in small ways to rectify that and hoped that future First Ladies would continue to do so.  To that end, the Baldishol tapestry was a welcome addition, for which she was very pleased.

The Baldishol Tapestry 

“The old Norwegian Baldishol tapestry” came to light one day in 1879 in Eastern Norway. An old church was torn down on the Baldishol farm at Nes in Hedmark, where they found a textile fragment between two layers of flooring.  It appeared to be a portion of an ancient woven tapestry. The tapestry came later to the Norsk Industrimuseum in Oslo and was later known as the Baldishol tapestry. The Norsk Industrimuseum is today (2009) a division of the National Museum for Art, Architecture, and Design.

The Baldishol Tapestry has been described in many sources, and there are many opinions on its age and origin. In Norsk Kulturhistorie (Aschehoug 1979) it reads:

The Baldishol tapestry is woven in gobelin technique, 2 meters long and 1.18 meters high.  The material is hand-dyed wool in clear red, yellow, green, dark blue and lighter blue in several nuances.  It is possible that the motif in the left-hand-section symbolizes the month of April (judging by the letters in the curve of the arched upper border) and that the knight to the right represents May.  Perhaps many pieces—that we don’t know about—were put together as a year’s calendar. Researchers think that the tapestry was woven in the first half of the 1200s, perhaps later, likely in Norway.

But on one point there is full agreement: the Baldishol tapestry is one of the oldest existing woven tapestries in Norway, and the best known.  It also stands out in a European context.  Hans Dedakam opens his book on the Baldishol tapestry (1918) with these words: “Without comparison one of the most important and interesting pieces in Nordic, and even European textile art.”

Norse Centennial Daughters Club

In 1925 Norwegian-Americans celebrated a Centennial; it was in 1825 that the sloop Restauration reached America with Cleng Peerson from Rogaland and his followers. They were called  “sloopers” in immigrant literature. President and Mrs. Coolidge visited the great event  in Minnesota in June 1925. The president gave a long and reportedly powerful speech.

But there were some women who were annoyed that it was men who organized most of the jubilee and there was little about Norwegian-American women in the publication, Norse-American Centennial 1825-1925. So they created their own organization, the Norse Centennial Daughters Club, and published their own book, Norse-American Women 1825-1925. Their overriding goal was to promote Norwegian-American literature, art, and music. 

In the list of the members of the Centennial Daughters we find many Sogn and Fjordane names: Mrs. H.H. Onstad, Hopland, Hillestad, Vee, Lee and Ylvisaker. 

..this famous tapestry.. 

At the annual meeting of the Centennial Daughters on February 1, 1926, Mrs. G. Bothne, Minneapolis, was invited to head a committee with the assignment to raise money for a copy of the “famous tapestry,” the Baldishol tapestry, and give it to the White House. The committee had many subcommittees, among others, one located in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul. 

The committee leadership must have worked fast and effectively.  A short time later the goal was reached, “As a gift from the Norse-American women, a tapestry is to be presented to the President and Mrs. Coolidge some time this spring.” The tapestry was woven by Kristi Sexe, known the world over for her weaving.  She spun the yarn herself and dyed it with plant dyes.  The price was 1500 dollars. 

Kristi Sekse Meland

Halldor Sandvin, former principal at Framnes Folk High School in Hardanger, now living in Telemark, wrote a pamphlet about the woman who wove the copy of the Baldishol tapestry. 

Kristi Meland (1886-1965) grew up in Tyssedal in Odda in Hardanger.  Her parents were Jakob Jorgensen from the Freim farm and Sigrid Johannesdotter from the Sandvin farm.  Both of these farms lie south of Tyssedal. Kristi was married for the first time in 1903 to Sjur Sekse and as the custom was, took Sekse as her last name.  They settled in Ålvik. In 1915 they separated and were divorced.  When Kristi was married in 1929 for the second time to Halldor Meland from Espe, she changed her last name to Meland. 

After some years in Ålvik Kristi moved back to Odda to a house she rented at Sandvin.  In 1922 or 1923 she settled in Kvam (further north and west in Hardanger).  There she bought the Eikhaug property, most often called Vadlandshovden. The place lies just east of Norheimsund. From Eikhaug she had a view right over Samlafjorden towards Vikøylandet to the south, Vikøy church and Fosslid where the artist Mons Breidvik lived.  Mons Breidvik and Kristi Sekse worked together often, Sandvin wrote. 

Sandvin figured that Kristi developed her skill in spinning and weaving from childhood on, during a time that spinning, knitting and weaving were commonly women’s work on the farm.  She studied at a young age, first at Henriette Schønberg Erken’s husmorskole (“housewife school”) in Hamar and later a three-year course at Den Kvinnelige Industriskole (The Women’s Industry School) in Kristiania (Oslo). In 1925/26 she participated in two courses at the Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole (State Handcraft and Industrial School). “Pattern Designer Kristi Sexe” was the designation on her diploma. Kristi was especially interested in natural dyeing.

Kristi Sekse Meland Kristi began teaching art weaving shortly thereafter, and ran a weaving school from 1927. In the brochure for Kristi Meland’s Weaving Studio she advertised a course that lasted four months.  Practical weaving, art weaving, spinning, natural dyeing with plants and color theory were on the curriculum. Kristi Meland died on December 4, 1965, and was buried in the graveyard at Vikøy Church, beside her husband. Both graves are still preserved and cared for by the Kvam parish. 

Kristi Meland’s Baldisholteppe

Sandvin doesn’t provide information on whose idea it was to weave a copy of the Baldishol Tapestry, who was involved in the project, when Kristi Sekse began the work, and when she was finished.  It seems that Sandvin did not have complete records to check.  He wrote the following: 

“Kristi was chosen to copy the Baldishol Tapestry.  She was finished with Industry School in 1920.  She must have received this honored commission early in the 1920s, surely after a recommendation from the school. It was said that drawing, spinning, dyeing and weaving took a half year.  The work attracted attention.  She had the most prominent of advisors, which could certainly have been confusing.  The work required a weaver who was a self-starter and independent.  We don’t know if she had help with the work, but the result was in any case hers.”

An inquiry of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (of which the Kunstindustrimuseum, the Arts and Crafts Museum, is now a part) revealed that the museum had very little on this.  The only thing that they had was a piece in the newspaper Tidens Tegn (Sign of the Times), December 9, 1925. It said that Kristi Sekse had “just” finished work on a copy of the Baldishol Tapestry, and the the tapestry was “now” on view in a gallery in the Arts and Crafts Museum where the original was hung. Her work garnered praise. Director Grosch commented “with much warmth on the skillful work.” The article ended with the note that the tapestry would be sent to America “in the near future.”

Note: Director Grosch (1848-1929) was connected to the Christiania Kunstindustrimuseum from its founding in 1876; he was a conservator in 1878 and director from 1894-1919. He was enthusiastic in his work with handcraft. He wrote a great deal on art and handcraft in newspapers and magazines, and wrote several publications about textile art. 

When Tidens Tegn wrote that the tapestry was “just” finished, It couldn’t mean within the last one or two weeks.  The tapestry was on exhibit in City Hall in Odda during the summer of 1925. But “recently” could be in relation to a project that had been underway for several years. In the magazine Nordmands-Forbundet (Oslo) it states in Number 1-1926, at the “The Baldishol Tapestry, or more correctly, the copy by Kristi Sekse in Norheimsund, Hardanger” had arrived in New York and would be sent on to the Norwegian minister (ambassador) Bryn in Washington.

Mons Breidvik

A piece from Frå By og Bygd (From Town and Country) stated that a book was sent with the tapestry, a book on the Baldishol Tapestry written by “Director” Dedekam, with a portion of the contents in English. The book was beautifully illustrated and bound by Mons Breidvik. 

Mons Breidvik (1881-1950), known for drawing and graphic arts, was born and grew up in the Breivik community, at that time in the municipality of Brekke, Sogn og Fjordane, now (2009) the municipality of Gulen. Breivik lies 3-4 kilometers  east of the Rutledal ferry stop. Mons Breidvik studied with Harriet Backer, Erik Werenskiold and Johan Nordhagen, and studied and worked several places abroad. 

In the winter of 1897-98 Breivik went to Framnes Ungdomskule (folkehøgskule, a folk high school). There he met Anna Heradstveit from Kvam. They married in 1905 and had six children.  The artist-couple lived in Breidvik from 1905-07, at Heradstveit from 1907-10 and after 1910 at Fosslid, near Vikøy Church.  Anna died in childbirth in 1914.  Breidvik had three subsequent marriages. 

Mons Breidvik lived in America for nine years.  On April 5, 1925, he took a boat to America from Bergen, the Bergensfjord. He wanted to try his luck as an artist on the other side of the Atlantic. 

The hundred-year celebration of immigration from Norway was in his travel plans. On the boat he met many people who were en route to the hundred year jubilee.  Later he met many, many more. He was present at the celebration in Minnesota in June, where it was said 60,000 people were in attendance. He heard the speech by President Coolidge and made a portrait of the president.  Mons Breidvik had several exhibits in America, and he completed several large works. A monumental work can be found at Grace Episcopal Church, Long Island. 

He came back to his homeland and Kvam in 1936.  He died August 15, 1950 and was buried in the graveyard at Vikøy Church. 

The Idea

It was Mons Breidvik who came up with the idea to give Kristi Meland’s copy of the Baldishol Tapestry to The White House. There was a notice in the Chicago newspaper, Skandinaven, May 25, 1926, signed “H. Bryn” (the Norwegian ambassador in Washington). The ambassador wrote that a notice in the same newspaper on April 23, incorrectly stated that it was his idea, that he and his wife had come up with the idea after seeing the Baldishol Tapestry on a trip to Norway and thereafter took the initiative to raise money. That is wrong, Bryn wrote. “It was the Painter Mons Breidvik…who had the idea.”

Hans Dedekam’s Book on the Baldishol Tapestry

The author of the book Baldishol Tapestry, which was reported by Frå Bygd og By to have been sent with the tapestry, was Hans Dedekam (1872-1928), an artist and art historian. He was the director of the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum [in Trondheim] (from 1908) and the Kristiania Kunstindustrimuseum (from 1919). The book came out in 1918 and was dedicated to Director Grosch on his 70th birthday. It has 60 pages, a French summary, and 38 illustrations.  Only 300 copies were printed. 

The Baldishol Tapestry in the White House—A History 

The first lady, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge (full name: Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge), welcomed the women who came with the copy of the Baldishol Tapestry, and said in her speech thanking for the gift that it will be a part of her plans to do more decorating in the presidential residence. We get the distinct impression that both the recipient and those who gave the gift were quite satisfied. And it is reasonable to believe that “the copy of the old Norwegian Baldishol Tapestry” graced one of the walls.  But there is the question of what happened with the tapestry later, under other first ladies.  Were they equally enthusiastic? 

Melissa Naulin in The White House had the answer.  In a thorough investigation of the history of the tapestry up to today, it turns out they have the tapestry. It measures 83” x 45” (210.2 cm x 114.9 cm) and is in good condition.  On the other hand, it is a bit disappointing that she indicated the tapestry perhaps never hung in the White House at all. They have no proof of it.  She wrote: 

“I am afraid that the history of the tapestry here at the White House is not very exciting. We do not know if Mrs. Coolidge ever displayed the tapestry after receiving it. We have never seen it in room photographs from that period. We conduct an annual inventory of furnishing but for some reason the tapestry does not appear in the inventory until 1931, and by that time, it has already been moved to a cedar storage close to the Third Floor. The inventories indicate that it remained there until at least 1937, when it disappeared altogether from the inventory for 40 years. The tapestry was rediscovered in storage in 1977 and re-added to the inventory. It has not been displayed since.”

But what about the book?  While the Baldishol Tapestry seems to be in perfect condition and safe storage, Melissa Naulin was not able to find out what happened or didn’t happen to the book on the tapestry. The Frå By og Bygd article said the Dedekam book came with it. But did it?  Not all the records are in agreement.  A couple of places note that there was a book with a list of the names of the representatives  of the giver, the Norse-American Centennial Daughters, but no other book is named. Melissa Naulin was not able to say they have a book on the Baldishol Tapestry. But they do have the book that lists the names. The cover is decorated with the word Baldisholteppet as the title, and a viking ship with women on board  as decoration.  The message is easy to understand: Women with Norwegian roots coming to the White House with a gift (a copy of the Baldishol Tapestry). One can speculate that the book for some reason or other went astray, that the delegation did not have the Dedekam book with them, or that it disappeared for another reason. The decoration on the cover of the book with names is definitely the work of Mons Breidvik.

Is this interesting?

To conclude, we can ask: Is this event back in 1926—that a Norwegian tapestry was given to the White House—interesting? Is this nothing more than what we today would call a publicity stunt?

 Several things can be said.  I believe the event was without a doubt important for the many people who gave the gift, and for the recipients, the Coolidges. And it was a gift tied to an important element of the American saga, the Norwegian immigration through a hundred years. The gift symbolized the link between the two countries, like the words on postcards, “hands across the sea.” It was a high-quality gift, a skillful copy of a piece of important textile art from the Norwegian and European Middle Ages. And above all, the gift and the event were a womens initiative. That’s quite apparent from Breidvik’s drawing. When have we seen a Viking ship with a woman on the prow, and when have we seen women sailing the ship?

And finally we can add that the event in 1926 is relevant to Sogn and Fjordane in many ways.  One point of connection is that a national treasure such as the Baldishol Tapestry is tied to national ownership. Everyone owns a small share of it. Another connection is the one of the participants, Mons Breidvik, was born and grew up in Gulen, and is a Sogn and Fjordane artist. And, since the gift was an emigration/immigration initiative, it has a clear connection to Sogn and Fjordane, the area that in relation to its population, had the highest level of emigration to America.