(2/20/2026) See the end of this article for the answer, and yet another update on 2/23/2026.
This is a lovely tapestry woven by Ruthi Klever Lunde Clark (1900 or 1903-1981), a Norwegian-American weaver who lived for many years in Seattle, Washington. Ruthi Clark traveled to Portland, Oregon, in 1947 to visit her brother. She met her husband Sam Clark and remained in the U.S. She was a prolific weaver and many of her works are owned by Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. (Lila Nelson (1922-2015), the former Curator of Textiles at Vesterheim, did marvelous detective work about Clark’s life for an article in the Norwegian Textile Letter, “The Story of Ruthi Clark,” Vol, 6, No. 3, May, 2000.
But who designed it this lovely tapestry woven by Ruthi Clark?
While researching a transparent tapestry in Frida Hansen’s technique that was up for auction in the U.S., I learned about another copy of this design. The weaver was Sofie Knagenhjelm, a Norwegian woman who lived in California for more than a decade. The beautiful weaving sold at auction was purchased by her granddaughter in Norway, Andrea Knagenhjelm. (See: “A Norwegian Transparent Tapestry with a California Connection.”)
When I communicated with Andrea after the sale, she sent me photos of other weavings by her grandmother, and one was the same “hind” pattern.
I asked Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen, Curator at the Norsk Folkemuseum if he knew of the pattern. He did not know the designer, but found a reference to another woven version, by Arna Gald from Stryn, Norway. It was pictured in an article from the Årbok for Nordfjord 2022. (This link is to the article via the Norwegian Digital Library.) “Gald’s daughter, Karin Gald Semb, who has the tapestry on her wall today, says that this was the tapestry her mother was most pleased with. She had attached a note to the back of the rug stating that the yarn was natural dyed wool from her own sheep.”
And now another version, shown below, was shared on Facebook by Helene Petersen-Sveen. (Link here.) The colors in the version she owns look so vibrant, and the weaver was very skilled. Peterson-Sveen is looking for additional information. Several people responded with information about the text that is included. This ballad was cited.
Commenters to the post noted two other copies in their families. Another person commented that this tapestry was woven at Else Kjeldal’s weaving school in Lunde, Telemark. She didn’t cite a source for the information, but Else Kjeldal did have a weaving school for many years, and billedvev, or tapestry, was one of the techniques that was taught.
Clearly this was a popular pattern that was woven many times. I hope the name of the designer will turn up!
Update: 2/20/2026
My friend Therese Solbakken wrote with the answer to the question! It was designed by Arthur Gustavson (1895-1968) in 1925. Gustavson was a painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and designer. He created patterns for Den Norske Husflidsforening from 1920-28, according to his entry in localhistoriewiki.no. Here is photo proof from the book Den Norske Husflidsforeningen Gjennem 40 År: 1891-1931. [Grøndahl & Søns Boktrykkeri, Oslo 1932.]
Another update: 2/23/2026
My friend Nanne Støhlmacher visited the Norsk Folkemuseum to examine boxes of patterns in the Husfliden archive. She and her friend Ingeborg were looking for looking for weavings from Laudal and Ingeborg’s family. They found Arthur Gustavson’s deer pattern! It’s turning up everywhere. Here is Nanne’s photo of the color cartoon and the drawing.
Here is another tapestry cartoon by Gustavson. I have a feeling a woven one in this pattern will show someday as well.
