Important events in the development of Norwegian bunad silver

Religion is not the only factor that has influenced the development of Norwegian bunad silver: A constantly evolving society and new techniques in craftsmanship have also left their mark. Two events in particular have been extremely important.

Silver mining in Norway

The earliest significant event is the discovery of silver in Norway – the first mining started at Kongsberg in 1623 and had a major impact on rural silversmithing in two ways. Firstly, Norwegians became much more exposed to impulses from the rest of Europe through the foreign miners who came to work in the mines. Secondly, silver suddenly became much more accessible to Norwegians. Although all the silver in the mines was to be transported to the Danish-Norwegian Christian IV, in retrospect it is theorized that only 1/3 of the total silver extraction actually arrived. A third is said to have been smuggled out of the mines by Norwegian workers, and the remainder probably fell off the load on the way.

If this is true, it explains how silver became so common in bunad silver from the 17th century onwards: The silversmiths in the villages suddenly got hold of large quantities of smuggled silver, and the silver became more accessible to most people and therefore also cheaper.

Filigree work

The second important event is the development of a new technique for silverwork: filigree work. Filigree work has been known in parts of the world for thousands of years – just look at the rich filigree tradition in gold and silver work in […..]!

In Norway, the filigree technique didn’t really become widespread until it came into fashion towards the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th century. The technique involves shaping small metal wires and bending, braiding and shaping them with tools and became increasingly popular in the silver world: This gave silversmiths the opportunity to embellish the silver even more. The filigree brooch is a good example of what filigree work meant for bunad silver: Now the base of the silverware was decorated and covered with filigree work in silver, which But completely new silverware was also made.

Read more about bolesølja here.

Erland’s filigree beer

The silversmith Jens Erland (b. ca. 1677 d. 1764) had a decisive influence on bunad silver and can be described as one of the pioneers of filigree work. He probably came from Denmark and was educated in the guild in Copenhagen. From 1706, he was a citizen of Skien, where he probably started making a completely new filigree bunad button that has since been called the “Erlandsknappen”. In other words, he was much earlier in filigree work than the rest of Norway, which did not take up this technique until the end of the same century.

But in Skien there were already two goldsmiths, who understandably didn’t want any more competition and worked together to drive him away, which resulted in him moving to Kviteseid in the 1720s, where he lived until his death. The fact that he moved from the city to the district may have affected his work: It is conceivable that he did better in Kviteseid, not only because he no longer had much competition, but the demand for bunad silver was also greater in the countryside.

Jens Erland’s son Søren followed in his father’s footsteps and became a silversmith. It is likely that he, too, received his education during stays abroad and received further inspiration for his future work. Søren moved to Tinn in the 1740s and remained there until his death in 1796. He is best known for making filigree wreaths that were later referred to as “Erlandssølja”. Erlandssølja differs from other filigree wreaths in that the bottom is also filigree work: Usually, filigree wreaths consist of a plain base plate with filigree work adorning the top, as is the case with most boles wreaths. The picture below shows a sketch of Erlandssølja, seen from the top left and bottom right.

The base of Erlandssølja is quite clearly inspired by the Medici collar (also known as the Stuart collar), a lace collar from the wealthy and influential house of Medici in Florence, Italy, which had its heyday in the 15th-17th centuries. Søren took the lace coin from the collar and used it in a nice and practical way in the silver work: “The bottom is a 12-snippa filigree lace in pierced work. Each piece is filled with an S-shaped filigree bead” (Haugen, O.O. (01.12.1998). Erlandsætta). The front is densely studded with frills (frill is a technical term meaning a curl/wreath, and is a silver spiral spring where you bend the ends towards each other and put a small ball on top) and demants.

the dissolution of the union and national romanticism

less popular and filigree disappeared in 1910, and around 1920-25, bunadsilver was “out” again.

the return and modernization of casting: the rise of mass production

The 1960s.

The Olympics in Lillehammer: Regained popularity for the suit silver.

from the start of the 80s, popularity grew.