Finn.no is an online shopping site, sort of the eBay of Norway. Each day I enjoy seeing a number of weavings in the categories I follow: billedvev [tapestry], aklæ [coverlet or weaving], and ull veggteppe [wool wall hanging]. It’s not easy to actually buy anything without vipps [the Norwegian digital payment system]. And if the seller was willing to mail it, would I have to pay a tariff on its arrival? It’s all very confusing and expensive, so I am mostly a voyeur on the site.
This summer I saw a skillbragd weaving for sale. It was a complex and appealing pattern, appeared to be beautifully woven, and it even came with provenance, the name of the weaver who wove it in 1993.
I wrote to the owner, Kirsten F., and asked if she was near enough to Kristiansand for my friend Annemor Sundbø to get it. Kirsten wrote back, “😊 Hun er jo ei kjent dame innenfor tekstilkunst. 👍.” [She is well-known in the field of textile art.] I think the link to my famous friend assured her I was a legit buyer. When we finished up the details, Kirsten wrote a nice note:
I would like to tell you a little about the background of why I have this rug. I received it as a gift from Orkdal Music Council in 1994, after working for them for two years as coordinator of a large musical project in the village. I had worked as a violin teacher in the municipality a couple of years before that, and had this job in addition. It was a large project – with the goal of gathering all the musical forces in the village: adult choir, children’s choir, corps, band musicians, soloists, etc. And we had two great productions with excerpts from famous musicals. I also received a willow flute – and I have used and played it diligently. But the skillbragd weaving remained in the attic for all these years, well wrapped in a sheet. Now I am cleaning out attics and basements, and thought this rug should go to someone who would appreciate it. Very nice that you want to buy it.
I picked up the skillbragd when I was in Norway (bonus part: it wasn’t another heavy book! There were five in my suitcase). I frequently learn that the world is small and full of connections, especially the world of Scandinavian textiles. Norsk Folkemuseum Curator Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen looked at the card that came with the weaving.
“Oh, Jon Fredrik [Skauge] would know the weaver,” Bjørn Sverre said. “He’s from Orkdal.” So I wrote to Jon Fredrik, and indeed he did know the weaver, Valborg Figenschau.
I think Jon Fredrik Skauge has the best tagline of anyone on Facebook, “Historian. A defender of tradition. A Knight of old crafts, both in the making and history.” Valborg Figenschau was important in one of those old crafts, weaving. Jon Fredrik said that Figenschau had a studio in Orkanger when he was a child, and when he grew older they became close friends. She helped him with warping and drawing patterns when he started to weave. They cooperated closely in the 1990s, around the time my skillbragd was woven. Figenschau is still alive, but has health issues.
Jon Fredrik added:
She often made replicas of old patterns and I have the same design from her studio. 12 shaft skillbragd, one of the most used designs in our area from the 19th century.
See, I knew that was a good purchase on my part — I will never to set up a 12-shaft skillbragd in my life.
Here’s an observation for my Scandinavian Weavers Study Group friends. The edge loops on this weaving are fairly tiny; I know make my loops larger. And, the weaver Valborg occasionally left a long loop between color changes. See the long loop of light green between stripes. (So it’s “legal,” I guess.)
Owning this beautiful weaving and knowing the story is somehow comforting in the face of constant news of uncertainty and divisiveness. A security blanket of handcraft history? The red and green colors in the skillbragd are so vibrant. It looks a bit Christmas-y, which is fine. To quote Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.”