A Marie Karsten Rug Appears at Auction

In 2024, I pored through the Husfliden (Norwegian Handcraft Association) archives at the Norsk Folkemuseum with curator Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen, searching for patterns for transparent tapestries. My goal was to match designers with unattributed tapestries in museums and private collections—solving lingering mysteries while bringing attention to designers influenced by Frida Hansen’s transparent tapestry technique.

I had some success. I identified a pattern with an archer and deer by Marie Karsten. (Read more about Karsten and the transparency here: “An Archer Takes Aim in a Transparent Tapestry by Marie Karsten.”)

Another Marie Karsten design in the archives featured an overall patterns of birds.

There was no indication that her birds and abstracted blooms were intended to be woven in transparent tapestry technique, with open warp showing, but when I made a sample piece to test some lovely handspun warp, I wove one of Karsten’s birds. (Read more about that piece in: “Testing Handspun Yarn in Frida Hansen’s Open Warp Tapestry Technique.”)

Yesterday I received an a notice of an upcoming auction, “A Collector’s Home.” from the Danish auction house, Bruun Rasmussen. I would toss all the furniture in our house if I had an unlimited budget to buy the Swedish deco wood pieces and Danish upholstered furniture Bruun Rasmussen features. And look! The first image featured Marie Karsten’s design, woven as a rug.

Here are more photos of the rug from the Bruun Rasmussen auction. The full record is here.

The record says, “Swedish design. Wool carpet in flatweave technique. Pattern in shades of blue and red on light coloured base. 20th/21st century. L. 278 cm. W. 156 cm.” Nope, not Swedish. It was created by the Norwegian Designer Marie Karsten in 1910.

I love the way threads of research turn up in my email, like small gifts. I also appreciate the fact the readers out there who find this research interesting! Happy holidays, Robbie