By Phillip Odden and Darrell D. Henning
Viking Dragons in America: Putting Drakestil in Context—Three Examples
Altar, Elk Creek Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, rural Pleasantville, Wisconsin.
Photo: Darrell D. Henning.
Situated in the rolling hills of Trempealeau County, in west central Wisconsin between Osseo and Pleasantville, is the Elk Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church. Approaching the church from the east via County Road OO, one sees the cemetery laid out behind a fieldstone retaining wall on the south side of the road, directly across from the church and parking lot. Headstones in the cemetery bear many Norwegian surnames, mostly immigrants from Hedmark and Oppland Counties of Norway. The setting is bucolic and pastoral, reminiscent of many rural churches in Norway.
When one looks from the back of the church down the carpeted aisle lined with solid oak pews, the altar, at first glance, appears to be quite traditional in shape and form. It is placed at the front of the church together with the pulpit, plant stands, and other usual furnishings found in many rural Lutheran churches throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. Its painting of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, framed by the Gothic arch overstory of the altar, is common as well. The carved altar, however, is quite special because it is carved in the ornate dragon style of the Norwegian national romantic movement— the only such example known to exist in the United States. Why is this altar in a rural church in Wisconsin? Can other pieces in a similar vein be found in America? If so, who made them, what inspired them, and what social, political, and artistic movements informed them? These and other related questions set us on a quest that begins early in the nineteenth century.
In Quest of Drakestil
The War of 1812 in Europe was over, and the seeds of nation-alism were planted in the soils of Europe and Scandinavia. In 1814, Norway had its own constitution and a plan for complete independence after nearly 400 years of domination by outside forces. Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and a host of European principalities and nations including England were all engaged in creating for themselves a national identity through their arts and industry.
Early efforts at creating such a national identity centered on architecture, architectural design, and furnishings for designed buildings. A major influence toward this goal occurred in Eng-land with the arts and crafts movement of the late nineteenth century.
The Arts and Crafts movement had its roots in late nineteenth-century Britain. Its leading theorists—men such as William Morris, C. R. Ashbee and W. R. Le-thaby—had trained as architects and worked towards unity in the arts, believing that all creative endeavor was of equal value. Not only did they want to reform design, but to give quality once more to the work process itself. With its division of labor, the Industrial Revolution had devalued the work of the craftsman and turned him into a mere cog on the wheel of machinery. The aim of the Arts and Crafts (movement)… was to re-establish a harmony between architect, designer and craftsman and to bring handcraftsmanship to the production of well-designed, affordable, everyday objects.1
In many countries, the adherents to this philosophy who sought to combine the movement with a national identity looked to their historic or traditional arts. In Norway, the proponents looked to their own history and the bonder, or farmer class, for their model and inspiration, including Viking and post-Viking motifs. The discovery of the Viking ships (the Gokstad in 1883 and the Oseberg in 1904), with their ornate carving and unique craftsmanship, added impetus to the development of the national romantic movement in Norway and spurred interest in the decorative forms found in the ornate carving on the stave churches throughout the country. In this new style, called drakestil, or “dragon style,” much of the carving included fantastic animals, dragons, and serpents with interlacing, fine-line tendrils derived from the pagan Viking period.2
Although conceived as a philosophical and social reformation to resist and reverse what was viewed as devaluation, if not destruction, of native handcraft in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the arts and crafts movement in much of Europe, England, and the United States never achieved the success its promoters envisioned. The same cannot be said of the move-ment in Norway. With the exception of drakestil, the so-called “peasant” arts flourished and continue in an unbroken line to this day
In Norway, the development of dragon-style carving was most popular along the west coast of Norway and in areas where Nynorsk, the new national language of Norway, was spoken. Here worked artists like Lars Kinsarvik (1848-1925) and his followers. Kinsarvik was the most famous woodcarver in this style.
In his work on Kinsarvik and his school, historian Arnfin Engen makes clear the sociopolitical dimension of this woodcarving style:
Lars Kinsarvik and his style sprang from and centered around that milieu that worked for a national movement that would culturally unite Norwegians and was built on a foundation of the Old Norwegian time of greatness [a reference to Viking time].3
This new art style was also supported by the growing husflid, or “home craft,” movement which, in turn, was fueled by the growing demand for tourist souvenirs.
The dragon-style designs produced in Norway around the turn of the century were also heavily influenced by the art nouveau movement originating in France and imported to Norway through the German variation, jugenstil,4 with its long, gentle, curved line in ornamentation already evident in many of the Norwegian stave church carvings. Prompted by academics such as Henrik Grosch of Kunstindustrimuseet (the Museum of Applied Art) in Oslo, Kinsarvik looked directly back to the Viking and post-Viking period of stave church ornamentation for inspiration and combined it with art nouveau to create drakestil. 5
Kinsarvik and his followers combined the full curving organic tendrils adorned with leaf elements from the stave church carvings and incorporated dragon heads, human masks (both stylized and realistic), and soldiers with helmets, shields, swords, and spears, who were mounted on horseback or marching on foot.6 Viking ships and warriors were used along
with nisse figures, intertwining knot carvings, and geometric borders.7
Against this national romantic movement stood the urbane culture connected to the wider European culture. This division was political and tinged with elements of class struggle, and there was tension between urban elite and rural “folk” expressed in these divergent views as well. Art critics of the period thought drakestil was in poor taste, a mishmash of influences from the Old Norwegian style (that could not be improved upon) and influences from Europe that were expressed in an unsophisticated, bonde, farmer manner.8
In general, people reacted strongly against the lively colors Lars Kinsarvik used on his carved furniture. Henrik Sørensen, the great painter from Telemark, called Kinsarvik’s furniture “torture benches in drakestil and tattooed furniture.” Harry Fett, the important author and researcher of Norwegian folk art, wrote, “The vines and dragon curls that are nurtured with such great faithful skillfulness within Hardanger and Voss [a reference to Kinsarvik and Knut Dagestad]. . . . [T]his is the last remaining expression of a European cultural movement—such that [they are] artistically finding themselves by copying the past.”9
The drakestil era lasted only a short time. By about 1915 the style was no longer popular, due largely to the resolution of the political and cultural struggle and to the influence of those who opposed the national romantic movement. The more conservative, urban culture won, in both politics and the arts.10
The Elk Creek Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church
In 1914, while the controversy regarding drakestil in the national romantic movement was in its final throes in Norway—it was effectively finished in 1915—the first Elk Creek Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, built in 1892, burned to the ground. From the ashes a new church arose and was dedicated in 1916.11 The present church was constructed between 1914 and 1916, first under the direction of the interim pastor, Matias Flekke, and completed upon the return of the permanent pastor, Reverend Sigurd Folkestad.12
Folkestad was pastor at both the nearby Strum and Elk Creek congregations (1909-1920). It was Reverend Folkestad who most likely secured the services of those responsible for designing and constructing the altar.
Sigurd Folkestad was not your typical rural Norwegian Lutheran church pastor of the period. Born in England, he received a classical and business education in Norway. He emigrated in 1902 after serving as editor of Vaarsol and Signal in Oslo.13 In America, he served as editor of Nordiske blad in Brooklyn from 1903-1906 and Den norsk Amerikane in 1907, before attending Luther Seminary (1907-1909) and beginning his pastorate at Strum and Elk Creek. This was a man very much involved in the political and secular life of both Norway and the Norwegian-American community and surely was aware of the nationalistic movement leading up to and following independence from Sweden in 1905. It is also likely that he was aware of the arts and crafts movement in Norway, because much of the related activity centered around Oslo and nearby Drammen.
A closer analysis of the structure and ornamentation of the Elk Creek altar reveals a base featuring six panels with
traditional Gothic arches and simple acanthus-leaf ornamentation. Rising from the altar’s base are two sets of pillars that frame the painting on each side. Topping the pillars are capitals supporting the classic Gothic arch. This arch is richly decorated by a series of carved designs much like the arch found on a central interior structure from the Hopperstad stave church of the Sogn region of Norway.14
Positioned on top of the altar one finds an intricate and seemingly unrelated yet profound carved ornamentation that appears to take the form of a mask. Directly under the upper lip of the mouth of the mask is a cross, carved and painted in contrasting white. The cross overlays a round shield decorated with relief carvings. Above the horizontal arms of the cross and on either side of the vertical are two halves of a sun motif, with sunbeams radiating from the two centers. Under the horizontal arms of the cross are two dragon images carved in relief, with their toothed mouths firmly gripping the lower section of the cross.15
The altar carving has been attributed to Jacob Espedal (1873-1930).16 There is, however, evidence to indicate that Jacob and his brother Torgeir (1884-1965) worked together on its creation.17 The Espedal brothers were from Forsand, Ryfylke, Rogaland, near Stavanger, on the west coast of Norway.18 Jacob trained as a woodcarver at a school located at Sand in Rogaland.19
In 1892, he left Norway for the first time to live in Daytona, Florida, where he met his German wife, Marta. There he studied to be an architect and worked in this profession and as a building contractor. It is said that he had a hand in many important buildings in Daytona.20 Jacob traveled back and forth between Norway and America several times, setting up a woodcarving studio in Drammen upon his return to Norway after his first trip to America. While in Drammen in 1901, he participated in an important exhibition of furniture groups done by craftsmen from neighboring counties.21
Torgeir Espedal probably learned the art of carved ornamentation from his older brother. He worked with Jacob during the time Jacob was at the carving studio in Drammen and traveled with him to Wisconsin at the time the altar was constructed and carved. When Torgeir was finished with his adventures in America, he returned home to Forsand, Norway, where he served many years as mayor.22
Since Jacob was trained in carving and architecture, it can be assumed he was the more likely of the brothers to have designed the altar. Like Kinsarvik and others, Jacob Espedal looked to the carvings found on the ancient stave churches for inspiration and particularly at the ciborium in the Hopperstad stave church from Vik in Sogn, Norway.
A ciborium is a framed arch with a roof constructed over an altar within the church building. The ciborium in the Hopperstad church has a carved arch that rests on two carved posts. In addition to vegetative ornamentation, the posts are outfitted with the heads of a king and a queen just under the arch. Lower down under the queen’s head is the head of a monk. Situated on top of the arch is Christ’s head, and under the head of Christ is a raised rosette of Gothic-influenced vegetative carving. The Gothic-style arch is ornamented with pierced Romanesque palmate-style carving. Although the arch is symmetrical in shape, the ornamentation differs from one
side to the other. The ciborium is believed to have been carved during the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century.
At Elk Creek, Espedal created Viking dragons and an ornamental, humanlike mask on top of a Lutheran church altar, with the mask looming over the less prominent cross. Further-more, the cross is placed on a round shield featuring the sun symbol and paired dragons with their teeth firmly set into the base of the cross.
Although seemingly incongruous, the mixing of pagan and Christian symbols most likely had more to do with Norwegian nationalism and the prevailing art milieu at the time Espedal was studying woodcarving than with paganism or even Christianity The same may be said with regard to the churches built in Norway during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, where we find a number of church altars that include elements of drakestil. None, however, exhibit the complex symbolism of the combined mask and dragons found in the Elk Creek Church altar.23
For the parishioners at Elk Creek, the altar is a source of pride. When interviewed, no one seemed disturbed by the obvious pagan symbolism, and several of the parishioners com-mented positively on their unique altar, even saying, “… it [the church] wouldn’t be the same without it. Everyone comments on it [the altar] both from in and outside the congregation.”24
Vesterheim’s collection contains numerous pieces, produced both in Norway25 and the United States, that reflect the national romantic movement. In addition to dragon-style woodcarving, there are pieces from the period carved in acanthus and rococo styles as well as material produced in other media, such as metal and ceramic. Included in the later categories are painted (rosemaled) pieces, textiles and entire costumes, as well as silver creations and ceramics. A few items in the collection combine the Norwegian national romantic movement with popular American styles and motifs reminisc ent of the arts and crafts movement.
In America, the arts and crafts movement also manifested itself in architecture and design, but there was no single folk-art tradition from which to draw a unified inspiration similar to those found in the traditional cultures of Europe. The movement gave rise to the architecture and design of such notables as Frank Lloyd Wright and the mission style in furniture, which gained widespread popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The “Burras Chair,” made by an unidentified craftsman in South Dakota, circa 1900.
Vesterheim 1998.022.001—Gift of Rick Burras. Photo: Darrell D. Henning.
The mission style was directly influenced by William Morris’s designs26 and was adopted by a number of architects as well as furniture and cabinet makers in this country, including Gustav Stickley. Stickley published a widely distributed magazine, The Craftsman, between the years 1901 and 1916, and thus was probably the greatest disseminator of the arts and crafts designs and beliefs in America.27
The “Burras Chair”
According to family history, this chair from Vesterheim’s collection was created for and given to the donor’s grandmother, Berthilda (Anderson) Burras, upon her retirement from teaching at the Beloit Children’s Home in Canton, South Dakota, in 1915. The artist is to date unidentified, but repre-sents not only a person of considerable talent and experience, but also someone who combined the influences of the Nor-wegian national romantic movement with American popular furniture design.28 In many respects, the design of the chair is similar to the Morris chair illustrated in the book The Arts and Crafts Movement by Cumming and Kaplan, and certainly is within the mission style so popular in early twentieth-century America.29
The Burras chair stands as a quintessential example of how the artist/craftsperson combined the Norwegian romantic revival and popular American styles to create something that was new and unique in the mosaic of artistic expression in the New World. The creator or creators of the Burras chair combined drakestil from turn-of-the-centu-ry Norway with the arts and crafts movement as manifested in North America.
The Burras chair is made primarily of quarter-sawn oak, with only the frame of the bottom cushion constructed of pine. Although it resembles the Morris or mission style, the construction technique does not follow exactly the precepts as outlined by the promoters of the arts and crafts movement.30
Though designed “in the manner of” the arts and crafts movement, the chair exhibits several unique, individual features. The arms of the chair are hinged along the outside edge and, when opened, reveal a long, narrow pocket of storage space. The back reclines (three positions) and is adjustable by moving a wooden bar into corresponding slots in brackets attached to the back legs. The front stretcher conceals a hidden, retractable, and upholstered footrest. The back and footrest are both upholstered with imitation leather as, most likely, was the bottom cushion, which has been reupholstered at some time in its recent past. The slats on either side of the chair are not an integral part of the chair’s construction, but applied with small nails to form a pair of “pockets,” presumably to hold magazines or newspapers.
The relief carving and decoration on the front and sides of the chair are the result of applying approximately one-quarter-inch-thick pieces that have been cut out with a jig saw and attached to the base components. Attached to the front legs are paired figures that also have been cut out of quarter-inch oak stock and then carved to resemble armored warriors. They are placed in a cutout window giving them a shadowbox effect. These figures, each holding a staff or spear, are
equipped with bows and arrows on their backs and swords thrust through the belts—both typical of drakestil motifs of the Norwegian romantic revival tradition.
The most definitive motif on the chair is the carving on the topmost component of the back rest. Here, carved in shallow relief, is a pair of dragons facing outward and supporting, between them, the seal of Norway—a rampant lion holding an axe within a shield on top of which is a crown. The carving is very well executed and the design is well suited to the overall chair. The designer/carver was both talented and practiced. In fact, the carving is more professionally executed than the overall construction and design of the entire chair. It is entirely possible that the carving was done by someone other than the chair’s maker.
The impulses that produced the decorative carving on the Burras chair are clearly the result of the Norwegian national romantic revival. The creator(s) of the Burras chair may well have drawn their inspiration from the publications of Den Norske Husflidsforening (the Norwegian Society for Home Industry). This organization was established in 1891 to promote and provide technical and aesthetic training for aspiring craftspeople. They also published historical treatises and technical manuals that were distributed throughout the country. In Vibeke A. Mohr’s history of husflid, the cover illustration includes a chair with dragon-style beasts on the arm rests—dragons similar to the dragons on the Burras chair.31
Although it is uncertain who created and carved the decorations on the Burras chair, it is an excellent example of the commonplace practice of the immigrant craftsperson combining elements from the homeland with the materials and styles found in the new land.32 Clumsy in appearance and uncomfortable by today’s standards, the Burras chair represents an example of the Norwegian immigrant artist/
craftsperson that made an effort to capitalize on the national romantic movement in Norway among their countrymen and women in America.
Erik Kristian Johnsen
Another example in the Vesterheim collection of Norwegian-American drakestil woodcarving from the national romantic school is the body of work by Erik Kristian John-sen. Erik Kristian Johnsen was born in 1863 in Stavanger to parents who were active in the pietistic Haugean revival that swept through this part of Norway, the same area from which sprang the revival in dragon-style carving. As a young man, Johnsen attended Stavanger Latin School (1870-1882), after which he pursued his religious studies at the University of Kristiania. While a student in Oslo, he took evening courses in the art of woodcarving during the height of interest in the national romantic movement.
Johnsen emigrated to America in 1892, when he accepted a teaching post at the Hauge Synod Seminary in Red Wing, Minnesota, and later served as a parish pastor. In 1900, he was called to teach Biblical studies at the Seminary of the United (Lutheran) Church in St. Paul. He continued his woodcarving hobby, both in his summer home near Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and in the attic of his home at the Lutheran Seminary. He died in 1923 in Minneapolis. In 1970, at the request of John V Halvorson, Marion J. Nelson wrote the following analysis of Johnsen’s carving:
Though wood carving was a hobby, his work indicates that he was an artist of exceptional imagination, industry, and skill. Most of Professor Johnsen’s carving is in low relief, though he also did incised decoration. His favorite motifs are Viking dragons, often depicted in combat. His inspiration is drawn from many sources: objects from the Viking ship finds, stave church portals, and early furniture. Though some of his works are replicas of early pieces, most of them are original creations in which early designs are freely adapted. The carving of Professor John-sen reflects his intense interest in the religious symbolism of the Vikings and in wood carving as an art media.33
Johnsen’s carving included not only stand-alone pieces for his home, ranging from bowls to benches and kubbestoler to cabinets, but also carved built-in furnishings for the house itself that exhibit the forms and styles of the Norwegian romantic movement.34
In all but one of his works he chose to interpret the carving styles promoted by the national romantic revival.35 From Viking and stave church themes, the pair of dragons that he designed to fit the upper corners of a doorway in his house are among the more interesting and unique pieces by Erik Kr. Johnsen in Vesterheim’s collection.
Made to be viewed from either side, the paired dragons are constructed of three laminated pieces of basswood, sawn to shape and pierced at strategic locations, then carved in both shallow and deep relief similar to the dragon figures found in a number of Norwegian stave churches. Viewed separately and removed from the doorway, they appear awkward and rather crudely made. Positioned as intended—framing a portal—they
are strikingly bold and beautifully designed for their location and are a testament to Johnsen’s designing skills.
Johnsen’s works are intensively personal and derive from an academic tradition. Unlike the anonymous carver who decorated the Burras chair, who might be characterized as an artist/ craftsman, Johnsen made no attempt to sell his carv-ings and was not commissioned to produce any for others. The works remain today as his personal interpretation of the Norwegian national romantic revival that emigrated with him to the New World.
Conclusions
The three pieces presented here represent examples produced in America of dragon-style woodcarving resulting from the Norwegian national romantic movement. Dragon-style carving was one form the efforts in Norway took to develop a national arts and crafts identity. It traveled to America, but did not take root in the new land. The carving style was directly linked to a sociopolitical movement in Norway, but since political questions in Norway had little relevance in North America, there was little incentive to continue to produce works in such styles in the new land.
Rather, a few immigrants carved the styles as an expression of their identity as Norwegian Americans. Even Jacob Espedal, the consummate professional designer and woodcarver, sold little if any of his carving beyond the commission of the Elk Creek Church altar, and did not pass along the tradition to his children or, as near as we have been able to determine, to others. He did continue to carve and make furniture in America, incorporating revival styles, but these were for his personal use, or for family members.36
Erik Kristian Johnsen had no woodcarving students, and since no other works similar to the Burras chair have come to light, it is likely that its maker had no continuing legacy of stu-dents either. The few Norwegian-American woodcarvers who produced examples of dragon-style carving prior to its being reintroduced through classes at Vesterheim are documented in the Vesterheim catalog Norwegian-American Wood Carving of the Upper Midwest. 37
Acanthus carving, also promoted and encouraged dur-ing the romantic revival period in Norway, found its way to America in a manner similar to dragon styles, but continued, however tenuously, to be produced and passed on within the Norwegian-American community. Several examples also can be found in Vesterheim’s Norwegian-American Wood Carv-ing of the Upper Midwest. 38 Charles Amundson, John Han-son, Halvor Landsverk, and Thelma “Telle” Rudser were all
Portal decoration, carved by Erik Kristian Johnsen, St. Paul, Minnesota, early twentieth century.
second-generation Norwegian Americans who continued the acanthus-carving tradition brought to America by family or other Norwegian immigrants.
In addition to acanthus carving, we find rosemaling, textile work, and a revival of interest in the national costume, all promoted by the Norwegian national romantic movement, continuing in a fairly unbroken line among Americans of Norwegian descent. Dragon-style woodcarving ended in America with the deaths of those immigrant carvers who were influenced and trained in that style/movement in Norway.
The objects they brought with them to America and the few works they created here are the only tangible remains in the United States of the drakestil component of the noble effort in the homeland to create a new artistic expression “in the service of nation building.”39
About the Authors
Phillip Odden has, as his life’s work, been making woodcarvings, furnishings, and architectural carvings in the Norwegian traditions for the past 27 years. He studied at the Hjerleids carving school in Dovre, Norway, during the late 1970s. He and his wife Else Bigton completed two books on Norwegian woodcarving: Treskjærer Kunsten (Universitetsforlaget, 1996) and Lærebok i Treskjæring (Gyldendal, 2000). Odden is a Vesterheim Gold Medalist and one of the museum’s most popular and inspiring folk-art instructors.
Darrell D. Henning grew up in Decorah, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.A. in anthropology/archaeology and earned his M.A. in history museum studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program in New York. Henning worked at the Nassau County Historical Museum (Old Bethpage Village Restorations), Long Island, New York, for five years, before returning to Decorah as curator of Vesterheim. While in New York, Henning received a New York Arts Council grant to study barn and rural architecture on Long Island. At Vesterheim, he received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study rural architecture in Norway. Henning retired from Vesterheim in 2001, after serving as curator, director, and again as curator. He has published articles on Norwegian-American architecture and Vesterheim’s collection and presented papers in both Norway and the United States, notably at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. and the Norsk Institutt for Kulturminneforskning in Oslo, Norway.
Endnotes
1 Elizabeth Cumming and Wendy Kaplan, The Arts and Crafts Movement, (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1991), p. 6.
2 For an overview of the subject see Albert Steen, “Tradition and Revival: The Past in Norway’s National Consciousness,” in Marion J. Nelson, ed., Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition, (New York: Abbeville Press, 1995), pp. 249-257.
3 Arnfin Engen, Lars Kinsarvik: Skaparen av “den norske stilen” i nyare treskjerarkuns, (Lillehammer: Thorsrud A/S, Lokalhistorisk Forlag, 1996), p. 46.
4 Ellen Marie Magerøy, Norsk treskurd, ny utgåve, (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1983), p. 282. See also Peter Anker, “I nasjonsbyggingens tjeneste” in Folkekunst, by og bygd XXXVI, (Oslo: Norsk Folkemuseums Årbok, Oslo 1999), p.13.
5 Arnfin Engen, Lars Kinsarvik, p. 28, and Arnfin Engen, Folkekunsten, p. 176. Lars Kinsarvik and Henrik Grosch had contact and worked together for about 40 years, from 1878 to about 1918. Grosch was an important advisor and critic for Kinsarvik. Kinsarvik was also influenced by Nicolay Nicolaysen of the Fortidsminneforening. The stave church carving style and the Romanesque leaf form were, in the end, very influential for Lars Kinsarvik’s ornamental woodcarving.
6 For illustrations see Engen, Lars Kinsarvik, Magerøy, Norsk treskurd, and Engen, Folkekunst
7 Engen, Lars Kinsarvik, p. 9.
8 Ibid., p. 45; Magerøy, Norsk treskurd
9 Engen, Lars Kinsarvik, p. 46.
10 Elements of the national romantic impulses remained, however, in the Folkhøgskole idea and in leftist politics, as well as, we would suggest, in continuing issues in Norway such as school reforms, and oil politics, farm subsidies, and the larger question of the European Union. But in the folk arts, pieces influenced by Kinsarvik and the style of carving he promoted
are artifacts of a now bygone age, and in the U.S., as we have argued, largely nostalgic of a distant social/political setting.
11 Pastor O. M. Norlie, comp., Norsk lutherske menigheter i amerika,1843-1916, (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1918), p. 228.
12 History of Elk Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, from the Osseo Centennial Book, 1957.
13 Until Norway gained independence from Sweden in 1905, the capital city was named Kristiania, after which the name was changed to Oslo. For our purposes here we will use the name “Oslo” throughout.
14 Johan Meyer, Norsk træskiærerkunst, (Oslo: Nasjonalforlaget A/S, Fortidskunst i norges bygder, 1978).
15 According to Jens Eldal of Norsk Institutt for Kulturminneforskning (NIKU), the altar, and the dragons in particular, are quite unusual. “…I have seen many altarpieces in dragon style, but none have been like yours… they [Norwegian examples] are usually designed more like solid and logic Architecture. The Espedahl [Espedal] piece is an unusal [sic], mostly Neogothic composition, decorated with carved Romanesque ornaments typical of the dragon style. The dragons biting the cross are both cute and strange. The composition on the top is quite odd; mostly Romanesque, but combined with ball-forms as known in the acanthus carvings of Gudbrandsdalen from 18-19 century.” (From email correspondence Oct. 8, 2002.)
16 In a personal account, Cora B. Hagen, who as an adult wrote about her experiences relative to the altar and dedication of the Elk Creek Church when she was about five years of age, states: “…The Elk Creek Lutheran Church …is most fortunate in having one of the most beautiful Altars found in any Church. This Altar was Hand Carved by a Commercial Hand Carver by the name of Mr. J. Espedahl [Espedal] of Oslo, Norway.” (Elk Creek Church Records.)
17 Additional information gleaned from the family in Norway (personal communication via telephone and email) indicated that Jacob’s brother, Torgeir Espedal (1884-1965), very likely also figured prominently in the carving of the Elk Creek Church altar. In fact, the Norwegian branch of the family claims that Torgeir carved the altar, and no mention is made of his older brother, Jacob.
18 Torunn Levik, daughter of Torgeir Espedal, personal correspondence, Feb., Mar. 2003.
19 In 1889 Lars Kinsarvik was teaching woodcarving in Hardanger, but he did not have many students because there was not enough interest. Kinsarvik quit teaching there, but Grosch promised him that no new school would be started in Hardanger in case he wanted to teach there again. “So funds were provided to a school at Sand in Ryfylke under the direction of woodcarver Hyland”—Engen, Lars Kinsarvik, p. 32. There was also a school in Lesja. Grosch was pleased that several students had been taught to carve these styles and were making money from the tourist trade.
20 Martha Espedahl [Espedal], granddaughter of Jacob Espedal, personal correspondence via telephone and email, Feb. 22, 2003.
21 Henning Alsvik, “Kultur og Kunsthistorisk Tverrsnitt,” Drammen: En norsk ostlandsbys utklingshistorie, Bind III, Odd W. Thorson, ed., (Drammen, 1972), pp. 874-875.
22 Torunn Levik, personal correspondence, Feb., Mar. 2003.
23 In a fax communication to Darrell Henning, Oct. 8, 2002, Jens Eldal lists and includes illustrations of six romantic revival church altars commissioned in Norway between the years 1893 and 1916: Uvdal, 1893; Vaagan, 1898; Nordbotn, 1900; Holm, 1907; Otrøy, 1911; and Nordvik, 1916. Although they are described variously as neo-Gothic/dragon style, new romantic, and combinations of the above, none combine the mask and dragons as in the Elk Creek altar.
24 Marlene Vold, second-generation and 40-plus-year member of the congregation, personal interview, fall 2003.
25 Most examples of Norwegian origin in the collection represent “tourist” items, material brought to this country by persons who visited the homeland and returned with such souvenirs. A few examples were created by persons who studied a particular art/craft form prior to emigrating and brought examples of their work with them. Some of these individuals continued to create and produce material based on the national romantic styles in the United States.
26 See Cumming and Kaplan, Arts and Crafts Movement, p. 147, illus. 115, for an example of the Morris chair design, which morphed into the mission style.
27 Ibid., pp. 122-123.
28 To date we have been unable to positively identify the maker. A detailed
examination of the chair revealed no signature or identifying marks except a glue stain where a label may have been affixed to the back bottom stretcher, supporting the contention that the maker was well established in the community. It is entirely possible that the chair and its decorative carving were made by more than one individual. Conversations with Don Pottratz of Canton, South Dakota, did reveal some possible clues to the origin of the chair. Upon examining photographs of the chair, he suggested that it might have been made by Gilbert Satrum who, along with his brother Ole, operated a planing mill in Canton from 1889 to 1917. The Satrum brothers (Gilbert, Ole, and Anders) emigrated from Oppdal, southern Trondheim parish, in 1881. Gilbert was 11 years old when the family emigrated, Ole was 15, and Andrew (Anders) was 19. It is unlikely that any of the three were trained or even had much exposure to the romantic revival crafts while in Norway, certainly not Gilbert. During the time that Gilbert and Ole operated the planing mill, Gilbert built the interior of the Canton Lutheran Church, which is a testament to his abilities as a carpenter/craftsman. Although there is considerable cut-out work in his efforts here, there does not appear to be any handcarving.
29 Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present, (New York: Richard Marek Publishers, 1981), pp. 480-487.
30 One of the major characteristics of furniture from the arts and crafts movement was mortise-and-tenon construction, in which key and dovetail joints are clearly visible, indicating the piece was hand-crafted. The Burras chair exhibits none of these details. The only dovetail joints are in the retractable footrest and are hidden from view. The maker was obviously influenced by the style, but unfamiliar with or rejected the philosophy of its promoters.
31 Vibeke A. Mohr, Vår husflid, (Oslo: C. Huitfeldt Forlag A/S, 1968).
32 See Marion J. Nelson, “Norwegian Folk Art in America,” in Nelson, Norwegian Folk Art, pp. 89-99.
33 John V. Halvorson, “Erik Kristian Johnsen,” Luther Theological Seminary Review, 9:1 (May 1970), pp. 24-28.
34 Darrell D. Henning, Marion J. Nelson, and Roger L. Welch, NorwegianAmerican Wood Carving of the Upper Midwest, (Decorah: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, 1978), pp. 43, 79.
35 Ibid., p. 43.
36 Martha Espedahl, personal communication.
37 Henning et al., Norwegian-American Wood Carving. There are a few additional carved wooden pieces in the collection at Vesterheim that were done in drakestil: a bench designed and commissioned by Magnus Wefald and made by Ole Kleiv, a farmer near Hawley, Minnesota (1981.118.002), and a small, two-tiered corner shelf made of walnut with carved dragon heads forming the upper corners (1971.017.012). These and perhaps additional pieces in the collection should be the subject of further research.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid., Peter Anker.
The authors would like to express their thanks to the several persons with whom they corresponded and who shared knowledge and information:
•Craig Wold from the Elk Creek Church, who brought the altar to our attention;
•Jens Eldal of NIKU;
•Don Pottratz of Canton, South Dakota;
• The families of both Jacob and Torgier Espedal [Espedahl];
•Blaine Hedberg of the Vesterheim Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library.
We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of our wives, Else Bigton, who assisted in translating the several references written in academic Nynorsk, and Terry Sparkes, who edited and critiqued our efforts.