Viking Magazine - May 2018 - 21

In Telemark, Gathering Lore
This bolesølje by Hilde Nødtvedt shows her
mastery of fi ligree technique, something she
received specialized training in. One of her favorite
creative touches is the inclusion of garnets. They
weren't typically used in the 19th century, but
silversmiths then used bits of red glass to achieve
a similar effect.
silver historically, because not everyone could
afford that. Brass was used too, he says, but those
pieces, made of a less precious metal, haven't been
preserved and handed down as often.
People still have varied means today when it
comes to ornamenting their bunads, which is why
Nødtvedt, though she creates pieces by hand, says
she appreciates industrially produced bunad silver.
" [Mass production] has made it so a lot more
people can afford it, " she says. " My pieces are at
least three times as expensive as the mass produced
things, " because of the many hours of skilled labor
that go into them.
Sando, who sometimes combines cast parts with
handmade elements, says he is proud to be using
a lot of the same tools his great-grandfather,
grandfather and father have used. " It's kind of like
going hand-in-hand with my ancestors, " he says.
Another legacy he inherited is his family's
knowledge of the lore and traditions surrounding
bunad silver. Since the 1960s, he says, his father,
Kolbjørn Sando, who still works with him at the
shop, has talked with older residents and goldand
silversmiths around Telemark to gather their
knowledge before it disappears.
" You can't say anything for sure about the
symbolism " in bunad silver, Jørgen Sando
acknowledges, because meaning is ultimately in the
eye of the beholder. But what his father found in his
research was that Christian meanings were often
attached to the shapes in some søljer. A hjertesølje,
heart brooch, for example, was understood by some
not just as a symbol of earthly love but of God's
love, and the fi ve-pointed crown atop the heart was
seen as a reference to Christ's fi ve wounds at the
crucifi xion.
Bunad silver was traditionally given as a gift on
occasions such as engagement and marriage, or
confi rmation.
" In Telemark, it was quite common for
confi rmation that girls would get a slangesølje,
serpent brooch (see sidebar on page 22), and then
get a bowl brooch for marriage, " Sando says. " In
other parts of Norway, it could be a plaque belt,
with the silver or brass squares all around it, that
was given as a marriage gift. " (continued on page 23)
Goldsmith Jørgen Sando puts one
piece of advice above the rest when it
comes to cleaning a sølje or any piece
of bunad jewelry: Be sure you know
how it's supposed to look when you're
done. Otherwise, you could go too far in
removing oxidation.
How to Clean Bunad Silver
In his own region of Telemark, for
example, the desired look is to have
some tarnish in the fi ligree and other
details. It should be " dark down in
the pattern, " Sando says. Overzealous
cleaning of a Telemark piece with a silver
dip, for example, could make it look as
if it came from neighboring Agder, where
bunad silver is kept shiny and white.
Sando recommends a very gentle
approach to cleaning, just a soft cloth
and warm water with a little dishsoap
in it. Once the pieces are fully dry, store
them in a sealed plastic bag, he says.
sonsofnorway.com VIKING MAY 2018 21
PHOTO BY M.STEINER
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - May 2018

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