Kolbjørn Sando received the King’s Medal of Merit!

Kolbjørn Sando has been awarded the King’s Medal of Merit for his commitment to bunad silver, which he has been burning since the 1960s.

Kolbjørn had other plans for the evening

Kolbjørn was “only” celebrating the fact that it was 60 years since he took his journeyman’s exam, and that it is 25 years since his son Jørgen received his master’s certificate. A quiet company party with the employees, board and immediate family. Or so he thought. He didn’t really have anything specific in mind about bunad silver, other than the bunad silver he wore himself. But he and his wife Randi were picked up at home by a stylish Rolls Royce with driver, and when they arrived at “Admini” in Rjukan, it was more crowded than he expected. The mayor and his wife, for example.

The knowledge carrier Kolbjørn Sando

It’s not the bunad silver, the silverware and the filigree work itself that earned him the medal, although he mastered that too. No, it’s the fact that we can still know so much about the traditions, history and symbolism inherent in the bunad silver he was honored for.

While shelves of books have been written about national costumes, written material about national costume silver (and brass!) is rather sparse. Richard Berge’s “Norsk bondesylv” is the best known and most comprehensive work, and Jorunn Fossberg has written a book on costume silver. Otherwise, bunad silver is barely mentioned in any of the books on national costumes.

This is a bit of a contrast to the important role bunad silver has had; both practically to keep clothes together, but also as an investment object to place the surplus of a good crop, as a show-off to display status and wealth and not least, the silver and other bunad silver have served as good luck charms and religious reminders!

Knowledge about bunad silver collected and spread further

Naturally, Kolbjørn has gained much of this knowledge from his own workshop, as we have been making bunad silver in our own workshop for four generations. In other words, ever since this was part of everyone’s everyday life, in a part of Norway where bunad traditions never completely died out. But Kolbjørn hasn’t stopped there: Already in the 60s and 70s, he traveled around and talked to old people and old silversmiths and gathered even more information about the history and symbolism of bunad silver before it was too late.

Not only that, he has eagerly shared his knowledge of bunadsilver and has given countless lectures on bunadsilver to crafts clubs and other interested parties. In this way, he kept alive an important part of our traditions long before the internet made it possible to share such knowledge easily. Just as you can now read Sando’s formulations about bunadsilver on other major websites.

A trip to the Royal Palace and a visit to the King!

On October 24, Kolbjørn and his companion Randi met the King and Queen at the palace to thank them for the Medal of Merit!