Ølbolle - Norwegian Ale Bowls with Rosemaling

                                                                                                                                           Years ago, I picked up these two late 19th-mid 20th century Norwegian dragon-style kjenge or ale bowls (ølbolle), the older pieces were usually made with horse heads, as well as similar bird form pieces called ale hens (ølhøne).  This size was intended for use as drinking cups, and often floated in larger ale bowls until used by the men to dip out their beer, they were usually used for weddings and other important ceremonies or gatherings.The blue one measures approximately 9" long, with a 4" wide bowl, and the red one is 10½" long (including tongue), 3¾" wide bowl.  They're often decorated with traditional Norwegian floral painting (rosemaling), but also left unpainted to show the intricate carving.  These two pieces were most likely made as souvenir items and one of them still retains its old paper label. 

A 1901 travel book on Norway discusses wood-carvings and shows some examples, including an ale bowl:

There's an absolutely gorgeous antique large ale bowl at the Erikson Gallery.  There are also a number of carvers working in the traditional styles, I'm particularly drawn to the work of Howard Sherpe of Westby, WI (click on link at lower left of page to see more of his work), and of the Norsk Wood Works in Barronett, WI - and check out the family's beautiful Norwegian Fjord Horses (starting 17 pics down are details of a wonderful carved sleigh).  Rosemaling is also done by many artists, Rhoda Fritsch of Aurora, IL has a great website with her work, and information on the different regional styles.

Search Amazon.com Books for Norwegian Wood Carving
Search Amazon.com Books for Rosemaling

It's Souvenir Spoon Sunday! ~ Florida Alligators

Woohoo!!!  Okay, maybe it's not all that exciting.....but since I have a few hundred of the darn things floating around the house, have decided that Sunday posts will be devoted to souvenir spoons.  For me, they hold interest not only in their often beautifully done designs, but also in the history of their subjects.

I travelled around a lot as a kid, moving to the Orlando area a month before Disney World opened in 1971, it's the closest thing to a hometown I have.  When we moved here it was a small town, we could ride our horses down roads that are now busy highways, spring would bring the overwhelming scent of orange blossoms from vast acres of groves, wildlife was abundant and the pace was fairly slow and easy - very different now.  The tourist industry has been big business in Florida since the late 19th century, due in large part to Henry Flagler bringing railways to the state and promoting his luxury hotels, the boom was in full bloom by the 1890s, just in time for the souvenir spoon craze.  The local alligators were a popular subject, the first spoon below, with its detailed (front & back)  figural handle, was made by Paye & Baker in early 1900s, the one with the alligator chomping down on the gilt orange leaf bowl was made by Alvin in the 1890s, and the perky little 'gator was made by Dominick & Haff for Jacksonville-based jeweler Greenleaf & Crosby, who held the patent rights to the design (1892 Patent D21560).

Jacksonville was probably the busiest tourist destination in the early days, and the alligator was a particularly popular souvenir of the city.  In addition to being able to take live babies home (poor things!), they were stuffed, or dissected to sell their body parts separately in various forms.  Less cruel options like the sterling spoons above, jewelry, decorated china, photographs, etc., and the work of anonymous carvers, who decorated, among other things, canes, pipes, corkscrews, letter openers, and spoons like the ladle below, with mother of pearl bowl and orange wood handle.

There are a couple of short articles that appeared in Antiques & Art Around Florida magazine, Florida Alligator Carvings, and Florida Souvenirs 1890 to 1930.