I am very interested in Frida Hansen as a mentor and source of inspiration to her followers — other designers of transparent tapestries. Several of them had been weavers in her studio, steeped in her beautiful floral imagery and experts in translating her cartoons into compelling ethereal hangings.
Birds and greenery were prominent in Frida Hansen’s tapestries, and also in this parrot-filled transparency pattern by a follower, Julie [Jullik] Gulbrandsen. It was clearly popular; I keep seeing different woven versions. As you view them, it is interesting to see the variety of borders and colors that were chosen.
This version is in the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo. In this case the attribution to Jullik Gulbrandsen is “assumed.”
These two portieres were sold at auction by Blomqvist this summer (June 2024). The parrots, grapes, leaves, and the intertwining tendrils are the same, but there are flower blooms in place of fruit-like circles in the Nasjonalmuseet version. Each panel is 68 cm x 240 cm (2.2′ x 7.9′).
This version is owned by a private collector in Oslo. Note how the dark unwoven warp makes the intertwining tendrils stand out, in contrast to the versions with a lighter background color.
Marie Kvistad Eikum wove this version with green parrots and a purple background and posted it on Facebook.
Anne Greta Krogstad posted photos of this lovely version in soft colors on Facebook. She noted, “What a treasure we have at our local museum [Trøgstad Bygdemuseum]. Transparent portieres, woven by Johanne Sellæg around one hundred years ago. Only a few master this technique, which is a variation of tapestry weaving. It was developed and patented by Frida Hansen at the end of the 1800s. The transparent effect comes from by leaving some of the warp unwoven, without weft, among the pattern elements. It is possible to think that the weaver learned from the master herself, as it is so beautifully done.”
I am planning a research trip to Norway at the end of August. I will spend a day or two examining boxes of weaving patterns sold by Husfliden in the early 1900s; they are at the Norsk Folkemuseum. From the national archive finding aids (via Arkivportalen) I know that there are many patterns for portieres designed by weavers known to be Frida Hansen’s followers. I am confident that several will be in Frida Hansen’s transparency technique. For example, here are two listing for drapery patterns by Jullik Gulbrandsen in the Husfliden archives. Are these patterns for transparencies?
I wonder if I will be able to match patterns I find with unidentified transparent tapestries that have come up for auction. Perhaps I’ll even discover when the parrot design was first available to weave…