Frida Hansen: Will We Ever See her Woven Swans and Maidens?

By Robbie LaFleur

Update (2022): It is found. See A Missing Frida Hansen Tapestry Rediscovered.

Fans of Frida Hansen and fans of mysteries–here’s a quest for you. Where is this missing Frida Hansen tapestry? We’re looking for your help.

Frida Hansen (1855–1931) was one of Norway’s most famous tapestry artists. She fit perfectly into the national romantic period at the end of the 19th century; she studied traditional weaving techniques and dyes. Her Art Nouveau style gained international acclaim; her most famous work, “Melkeveien,” (Milky Way), won a gold medal at the Paris Worlds Fair in 1900. As her style became more “European,” her popularity waned in Norway–in contrast, for example, to Gerhard Munthe’s popular tapestry images based on Norwegian folk tales.

Frida Hansen is overlooked no more. Especially after the retrospective of her work at the Stavanger Art Museum in 2015, she regained her place as an important figure in Norwegian art, and her innovation and excellence in weaving is fully recognized.

Most of Frida Hansen’s works were purchased outside Norway by museums and collectors. That brings us to our story of the missing swans and maidens. A few years after “Melkeveien,” she wove “Sørover,” or “Southward,” with ten maidens riding on swans. The pieces have a similar diagonal composition.

“Southward” was purchased off the loom in 1903 by Berthea Aske Bergh, who had studied with Frida Hansen. She brought it back to the United States, where it was exhibited several times up to 1931, at venues including the Walforf Astoria Hotel in New York (1904), the Smithsonian (1924), the Hotel Astor in Boston (1928), the Toledo Museum of Art (1931), and the Brooklyn Museum (1926, 1931). No color photos remain, but according to the cartoon and a description in House Beautiful in 1929, the main colors were blue, white, and silver, with a border of green and violet (“An Old Art for the New World,” by Miriam Ott Munson, House Beautiful, July 1929, p. 42+). From that article, here is the flowery description of Berthea Aske Bergh’s purchase of “Southward,” and also “King Sigurd’s Entrance into the Holy Port” (based on a cartoon by Gerhard Munthe, and woven by Frida Hansen):

Some years ago Mrs. Bergh made a statement to a group of American connoisseurs that her country not only possessed a highly developed art of weaving, but that it antedated by many centuries any similar European art. Her audience was skeptical and so, to prove her assertion, she sailed to Norway just one week from the date of the discussion to bring back to America convincing and beautiful proof of her statement.

Straight to Mrs. Hansen’s studio she went, where the magnificent tapestry “Southward” stood on the loom, nearing completion. To Mrs. Hansen she said, “I must have that tapestry to take back to America.”

Mrs. Hansen demurred, because practically all her tapestries are sold on the loom, and, true artist that she is, she does not duplicate work. But so insistent was Mrs. Bergh that Mrs. Hansen yielded to her entreaties, and ‘Southward’ was destined for America. So too was a duplicate of the tapestry “King Sigurd’s Entrance into the Holy Port,” since King Oskar II of Norway, who possessed the original, was unable to withstand Mrs. Bergh’s enthusiasm and entreaties.

King Sigurd tapestry

My interest in finding the missing ‘Southward” tapestry was sparked by two curators, Monica Obniski and Bobbye Tigerman, who are working on an upcoming exhibit, Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890-1980, which will open at the Milwaukee Museum in May 2020 and at the Los Angeles Museum of Art in October 2020. They are exploring the influence of Scandinavian design in America and the exchange of design ideas between the US and the Nordic countries throughout the 20th century. Monica Obniski wrote, “The textiles of Frida Hansen were shown in the United States (which is why we are interested in her work); her textiles also spurred interest in Norwegian weaving. We have tried to track down “Sørover,” which was owned by Berthea Aske Bergh; it was shown at an important 1931 show at the Brooklyn Museum, and it was prominently displayed at the Norse-American Centennial in Minneapolis in 1925.”

Southward was woven with wool and silver threads on a cotton warp and at approximately 114″ x 142″, it was impressively large. When it was shown at the Brooklyn Museum as part of an exhibition of Scandinavian Industrial Arts in 1926, Katrine Hvidt Bie wrote in Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society (Saturday, May 1, 1926):

“Southward” is of great beauty; as lovely as “The Milky Way” and “Salome’s Dance” or “The Finding of Moses.” It is a thing one will always remember, and love to dream about; the lithe and clean-limbed goddesses are speeding swiftly southward through the sea on the backs of young swans. They are carrying back the sun, and flowers which they loaned the North to make the long summer.

The second time it appeared at the Brooklyn Museum, as part of the “Modern Tapestries” exhibit (February 7-February 28, 1931), the press notice stated:

One of the most famous contemporary tapestry makers, Mme. Frieda Hansen of Christiana, Norway, is well represented by “Southward” and “Pond Lilies”, both of which were designed and woven by her. She became known as early as 1900 and now her works in this field hang in royal palaces in Norway, England, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Denmark and in three large museums. “Southward” is lent by Mrs. Berthe D. Aske Bergh of The Weavers, New York. This tapestry illustrates a Norse myth of golden-haired daughters of the sun who go sailing southward in diagonals across a geometric sea after having brought flowers and light to the north. It is woven in wool and silver.

On June 7, 1931, the New York Times carried an article about a new exhibit at the Homemaking Center at Grand Central Palace (“Arts and Crafts from Foreign Lands,” by Walter Storey Rendell, New York Times, June 7, 1931: SM9). The “Norwegian Exhibit” was shown courtesy of Berthea Aske Bergh, and featured tapestries by Frida Hansen from her collection. “One of her wall hangings on exhibition depicts the entry of King Sigurd into Byzantium, Istanbul of today, and another has a motif of pond lilies.” “Southward” is not mentioned, which is interesting, but not definitive. Could she have sold it during or after the Brooklyn Museum exhibit earlier that year?

What happened to “Southward” and the other pieces by Frida Hansen owned by Berthea Aske Bergh? Did she own them until the end of her life? Did her son inherit them? He died only five years after her. These are the details of their life spans, from Ancestry.com pages gleaned from a Google search.

Berthea Antonia Aske was born in Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway on October 18th, 1867. She married Oskar William Bergh, who died in 1937. She died on June 15, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York.

Bethea and Oskar had three children. One died the same year he was born, in 1893. Their son Norman Meriam Bergh was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on August 6, 1890. Norman married Elizabeth Lamson Griffin. He passed away on November 21, 1959, in Keene, New Hampshire, and his wife died in the same town in 1961.

Another son, John Nito Bergh, was born in 1895, but the Ancestry database does not have information on his death date, nor that of his wife, Ann Loretto Kinchsular.

I can picture the beautiful hand-dyed blue tones of the waves on “Southward,” set off by glistening silver threads. Odds are they will only remain in my imagination. I’ll continue my research, and try to find more information on Berthea Aske Bergh and her studio, The Weavers, Inc., when I visit New York City in February, 2019. Perhaps before then an alert Norwegian Textile Letter reader, or someone you know, will locate Frida Hansen’s missing masterpiece? Let’s crowdsource this conundrum.

Do you have information about Frida Hansen’s works in the U.S., or information about Berthe Aske Bergh and her weaving school in Brooklyn? Do you have ideas for further research? Please let me know at lafleur1801@me.com.

Looking for more information on Frida Hansen? Anniken Thue is the premier Hansen biographer. Her book, Frida Hansen: En Europeer i Norsk Tekstilkunst (A European in Norwegian Textile Art), published in 1986, is only in Norwegian. A more recent title, Frida Hansen: Art Nouveau i Full Blomst, published by the Stavanger Art Museum in 2015, includes several essays on Hansen’s art, with English translations. (Neither are easily available in the U.S.)

There are many references with images online. You could start with the website of the Stavanger Art Museum, here, with this overview on the the Norwegian Absolute Tapestry site (the overview of Norwegian tapestry puts Frida Hansen in context), and with two recent interesting blog posts: “Fabricadabra: Frida Hansen, 1855–1931” by Travis Boyer and “Frida Hansen and the Making of Art Nouveau.” I wrote about Hansen in “Now I Like Frida Hansen Even More,” and recently in “When Frida Hansen Sought a Weaving Teacher.” I will continue to write about Frida Hansen as I embark on a study of her work in Norway, with the support of the American Scandinavian Foundation. Robbie LaFleur

Playing at the Loom Together: The Scandinavian Weavers Study Group Tackles Skillbragd

1 Reply

By Lisa Torvik

Karin Maahs made a pillow from her piece, and it won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair.

After enjoying our project in 2017 which focused on the Swedish art weave, “dukagång”, there was consensus to embark on a new group project in 2018 studying an overshot technique known as “skillbragd” [pron. “shill’ brahgd”] in Norway and as “Smålandsväv” [pron. “smoh’ lahnds vave”] in Sweden. Regional variations in Norway go by other names, too. Essentially, all forms secure long pattern weft floats with a single or double shot of tabby.

There are a few different ways to set up a loom for this technique, but most assume a loom with sufficient depth front to back to accommodate several harnesses separated in two groups, and the ability to adjust harnesses up and down independently of each other. Historically, this technique would have been set up with counterbalance. After review of a lot of different sources, and some experimentation, we found that setting up the ground on countermarch and the pattern harnesses using elastic bands worked the best. Even so, most found it necessary to use a pick up stick to create a good pattern shed, though the plain weave sheds were pretty good. Most of us used stick shuttles for the pattern yarn and some for the ground weft also. Keeping the warp damp aided in getting a better shed and strengthening the warp under high tension.

The ground is threaded on two or four shafts, and the pattern is usually on 4 or 6 shafts, but a larger number of pattern harnesses is possible if the loom can accommodate them. The warp is first threaded in regular heddles on the ground harnesses for plain weave. Then contiguous groups of warp threads, often four at a time, are threaded through pattern harnesses in front, using long-eyed heddles or by threading the group of warp threads under the eye of regular heddles. A single square in the drafts we used corresponds to one group of four threads in a pattern heddle.

The two groups of harnesses should be separated by a few inches. The sinking-shed pattern is created by treadling the pattern harnesses, one or more at a time, and following each pattern shot with a plain weave shot. A side fringe of loops can be created by catching the pattern weft around a finger. The ground weft is usually threaded so 2 or 4 warp threads create a selvedge that is not threaded through a pattern heddle. This selvedge locks in the loops or hides the pattern weft turns on the backside of the weaving if no loops are desired.

Loops at the edges. The two outer pieces are showing the “right” side, with the narrow selvedges.

We set up two warps in succession, both with Bockens 16/2 unbleached linen yarn. Weft was the choice of the weaver. The second was narrower than the first, but on the second warp, a smaller number of weavers wanted to weave longer pieces. In all, fourteen weavers completed nearly 30 pieces of varying lengths between the two projects. Most used wool weft, but some pieces were finished with all linen weft or perle cotton. (Draft for the first warp in pdf;

Lisa Torvik wove a a spring flower garden runner with bundles of linen threads

After the group settled on skillbragd as the technique, we had to come up with ideas for patterns and drafts to set up the loom. We had a number of printed materials to review, and among them was a photo and, conveniently enough, complete draft for a large traditional skillbragd tapestry from Gol in Buskerud, Norway that I found on the Husflid.no website. After discussion, I chose a few elements from the piece and created a draft for the narrower width we wanted. We decided that having the main pattern side up would make it easier to weave, though some traditional sources indicate that skillbragd was often woven backside up.(Draft for the first warp in pdf)

Pattern experiments abounded–Sara Okern stretched out one pattern element in the center of her runner.

When the second warp was proposed and a number of weavers wanted to join the project, Lisa Anne Bauch and I looked through several books and patterns and chose sections we liked to create a slightly narrower warp that featured more ground showing in the design. Several weavers on the first warp had commented that would be desirable. Interestingly enough, some of us found the more prominent weft pattern on the backside just as nice, so many pieces will be finished to be reversible. (draft for the second warp in pdf)

Sometimes it was difficult to decide whether the front or the back was more attractive.

I would like to acknowledge the weavers and, of them, the many that helped set up the two projects: Phyllis Waggoner, Robbie LaFleur and Lisa Anne Bauch worked with me to set up – and set up again when THAT didn’t work – the first warp.

Robbie LaFleur turning the crank, Lisa Torvik supervising and rolling on the warp, and Lisa Anne Bauch braced with the taut warp.

Robbie helped me monitor and aid those unfamiliar with the technique. Melba Granlund, Lisa Anne and I set up the second warp, though we agreed four is best! Help came from afar, too, with an “emergency” phone call while warping to Robbie’s colleague Shawn Cassiman in Michigan and a detailed letter from Ruth Ida Tvenge of the Øystre Slidre Husflidslag in Norway. Ruth Ida’s advice included,

“I have set up several warps for Kristnateppe [1], both here at home, and for weaving classes. And they have been good to weave on. Use Solberg yarn no. 24/2 for warp yarn [2]. And I have a Glimåkra loom also. They are good looms! I weave tapestries that are 1.20 meters [47.25 inches] wide and approx. 1.45 meters [57 inches] long. Use four harnesses for the plain weave and those I hang up with countermarch. I hang up the four pattern harnesses in elastic bands (of car tire innertubes). You must be sure to hang the pattern harnesses a little higher than the ground harnesses. When you beam on the warp be sure to hold tightly and firmly on it so that it is “hard” to turn for whoever is turning the warp beam. Really tighten up the warp when you start to weave. Use narrow (thin) and long shuttles for the pattern sheds.”

[1] Kristnateppe is a traditional Valdres tapestry, a “christening tapestry”, woven in skillbragd technique on a linen or cotton warp with wool weft, featuring natural black, green, red, gold and sometimes blue bands.

[2] Solbergspinderi of Norway manufactures exclusively 100% cotton yarns, 24/2 being one of their warp yarns.

Following this project, we displayed many of the pieces at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. Some had been finished, others were in “right off the loom” state. See the article, “Celebrating TWO Group Skillbragd Warps,” on our Scandinavian Weavers Study Group blog. You can sign up to follow our future activities, too. Based on the success of this project, and the fun of seeing so much creativity within our group, we are planning a new warp, in monk’s belt, early in 2019.

At a monthly meeting of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group we had a ceremonial unrolling of the skillbragd pieces, toasted with sparkling juice.

Lisa Torvik credits early influences of her mother, grandmothers, aunts and friends in Norway for her knitting, sewing, embroidery and weaving interests. She spent a year in her youth studying weaving at Valdres Husflidsskule in Fagernes, Norway and now focuses on projects in traditional Norwegian techniques and more contemporary applications.

From the Heart, Made by Hand: An Exhibit of Swedish Textiles

What makes the perfect gift?

For many people, it is something that is handmade. This collection is one of the museum’s most cherished gifts. Monsters and animals weave their way around these objects and delight the eye. Both explosions of color and tame geometric patterns inspire curiosity. The variety within this collection means that each object reflects elements from the Swedish provinces to Americans and Swedish Americans.

Explore all that these textiles communicate by visiting From the Heart, Made by Hand: Treasures from the Women of Sweden on view between September 16th, 2018 and March 10th, 2019!

Until then, enjoy these images.

A Treasured Family Båtrye

1 Reply

By Robbie LaFleur

Bibles and a Båtrye

A bible box with a beautifully-painted stave church on the top.

Norma Wangsness is a talented painter and rosemaler; her home is filled with paintings of Norwegian and Midwestern landscapes. Beautiful benches, boxes and other wooden items are embellished with the meticulous scrolls and flowers of traditional Norwegian rosemaling. When the king and queen of Norway came to visit the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, she was chosen to create a gift for them, a rosemaled plate with a painting of the king and queen in the center.

Three boxes flank the edge of her dining room. Two hold heirloom Norwegian bibles with family history written in them, one from the 1800s and the other from the 1700s. But the third box holds a unique family textile treasure, a båtrye (boat rya) brought to Iowa in 1872 by Norma’s husband’s grandfather, Ole K. Strand, who emigrated at 19 from Kristiansund. The family believes the rye originally belonged to Ole’s grandfather, a fisherman, which would date it around 1850 or earlier.

A photo of the king and queen painted by Norma is in front of the custom båtrye box.

Ole Strand passed the båtrye to his son Dr. Carl Strand in California, who described it in a family history, noting that Ole brought three båtrye with him to America, but two were destroyed by mice. After Norma and Willis wrote to Willis’s uncle and asked if they might buy it or care for it for the next generation, Dr Strand brought it to Decorah and presented it to them in 1989. Willis built a custom wooden box for it, and Norma painted it. She found rosemaling designs typical of the Trondelag area where the båtrye originated, and a ship adorns the curved top of the box.

The inside of the båtrye box also features rosemaling scrolls.

Norma and Willis consulted with Marian and Lila Nelson about the båtrye. Marian was the head of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Lila was the Curator of Textiles. Lila told them that from its design and colors, it appeared to be a Norwegian West Coast rye, and told them about the value of the pile coverlet to fishing families. The thick wool spun from indigenous Norwegian spelsau sheep was naturally water-repellent and provided warmth and protection to men sleeping on wooden bunks on fishing boats in the cold North Sea. Given the amount of wool and work required to weave a båtrye, it was noteworthy if a young woman had one in her dowry.

Another expert opinion

When Marta Kløve Juuhl, a weaver and weaving instructor from Bergen, Norway, came to Decorah this fall to teach her popular warp-weighted loom classes, she also visited the rya. She and her friend Solveig Jordal from the Osterøy Museum expertly examined and described the piece.

The base is woven in three-shaft twill, set densely at approximately 16 ends per inch. The warp is two-ply, spun from the strong guard hair of the sheep. The thick ground weft is woven of single-ply wool spun from the softer undercoat. Six shots of ground weft were woven between each row of knots.

The knots are woven of the same yarn as the weft, but double-ply. They were unevenly knotted, probably purposely. The current softer and fuzzier appearance of the pile is the result of many of the knots becoming unplied. “It’s very interesting to see the big yarn used for the knots compared to the other side,” Marta noted.

The fuzzy surface of knot yarn unplied by age and use

Marta commented that there could have been letters or patterns woven in, obscured by fading. It was common to add dates to a båtrye; the oldest existing båtrye in Norway is dated 1682.

Look at the deep reddish-orange flash at the bottom of the knots. Imagine the impact of the color when the båtrye was new.

The rya could definitely have come from Nordland, especially given the family information, but that style could have been from anywhere along the West Coast of Norway down to Sognefjord. Solveig, Marta and I equally felt happy that Norma Wangness has preserved this rya so carefully, and gave us the opportunity to inspect it closely. As a museum employee and a weaver, Marta said she has seen lots of ryas, but hasn’t had the chance to dig into the knots and examine one so closely.

“It speaks to the value that it was chosen to take by the family—perhaps it was useful on the voyage from Norway.” Marta Kløve Juuhl

This piece traveled from the oceans of Norway–probably used on a North Sea fishing boat more than 120 years ago–to the Midwest of the U.S. It tells us the story of its creation in its materials and technique. It deserves that special box!