1
ENGLISH
ICELANDIC SILVERWORK EXHIBITION TEXTS
View the exhibition ( the cabinets) from right to left.
1
SILFUR ÍSLANDS
7 6 5
8
9
4
3
2
11
12
PLEASE RETURN AFTER USE
1
2
Cabinets 1-7 - Various techniques of silvermaking
No 1 WROUGHT-SILVER OPENWORK
Wrought-silver openwork is regarded as one of the most beau
tiful forms of silverwork – and one of the most difficult. Sheets of
silver were cut and pierced, and the cut pieces wrought into
floral and foliage motifs. Pieces might also be chased. The
finished openwork was then soldered into a setting, often with
shiny backing layer to showcase the openwork.
Wrought-silver openwork was common in the 15th and 16th
centuries, after which the skill appears to have declined and died
out. In the early 1900s Icelandic silversmiths revived the
technique.
Wrought-silver openwork belt used with a tradititonal costume.
No 2 SILVER VESSELS - CORPUS
Icelandic silversmiths do not appear to have made many
silver vessels but chalices and other goblets were made.
The making of silver vessels was difficult, and was
probably the province of those who had trained formally
in Copenhagen.
Chalice and paten
A sheet of metal was gradually hammered into a hollow bowl shape. It was
important to maintain the thickness of the metal by lightly hammering the edges.
The exterior surface was planished (smoothed) by painstaking hammering.
When the bowl achieved the desired form the other parts of the chalice (stem, base
etc.) were made, and attached by soldering.
3
Chalices
A finished vessel was shaped by innumerable strokes of a hammer. On some objects
traces of hammer-strokes remain visible, where the surface has not been planished
sufficiently.
New, large chalices were often made by melting down older pieces, sometimes
more than one in order to provide enough metal for the new piece. The majority of
older Icelandic chalices and goblets were recycled in this way to make new ones, not
least in the 18th-19th centuries when church silver was renewed enthusiastically.
No 3 SILVER CASTING
Many silver objects were made by casting. Silver objects were cast in moulds filled
with damp sand. The model for the object was
placed in the sand, and the mould was closed to
form a gap of the appropriate shape. Molten silver
was then poured into the mould and solidified in
the correct form.
Snuffbox with casted silver on top and bottom and
filigran decoration.
No 4 ENGRAVING
Engraving is the craft of cutting or scratching patterns or
lettering into a smooth metal surface. The engraving tool, a
burin or graver, resembles a miniature chisel. The burin has a
short handle. It is pressed on the surface of the silver to cut
the surface, forming a pattern or inscription.
Paten with engraved symbol for manus dei (hand of God)
4
The traditional form of engraving inscriptions was to use separate ”block” letters,
but in the 19th century engravers started to use italic script (mimicking cursive
handwriting), and after that engraving styles grew more diverse.
It was common to carry a personal seal. These served
instead of a signature, as not everybody could read and
write. Seals were generally made of copper or a copper
alloy, but in more recent times silver, nickel-silver, and even
gold were used.
No 5 FILIGREE
Filigree was a common type of ornament in medieval
Iceland. It gained great popularity in the late 19th
century, not least due to the enormous success of new
national costume designs based on traditional dress.
The word filigree (older form filigrann) is from the Latin: filum = thread and granum =
grain. The word thus refers specifically to granulated filigree, which combines
motifs of slender silver threads with tiny beads or “grains” of silver.
The older form of Icelandic filigree used wires twisted
from two silver threads, which were formed into spirals
and soldered to a surface. Small beads of silver were then
soldered to the joins.
The 18th century saw developments in filigree technique:
a very slender flat wire, generally ruffled along the edges, was formed into patterns
delineated by thicker sliver wires.
NB: See the video on the screen about the making of a filigree ornament.
On the iPads there are photos of selected silver objects which can be enlarged.
(NB the iPads are NOT connected to the Internet)
5
No 6 GILDING
Icelandic silver objects were rarely gilded. Gilding was used only on the most
precious objects. The usual method was fire-gilding, using mercury. Gold dust was
mixed with hot mercury, and the amalgam was applied to the silver object with a
brush or point. The object was then warmed over a low heat, and the mercury
evaporated, leaving a thin layer of gold. The mercury vapour released was highly
toxic, and fatal if inhaled. In Iceland use of mercury for gilding ceased with the
introduction of electro-plating in the 20th century.
Communion vessels (chalice and paten) were often partially
gilded (parcel-gilt). The bread and wine must not touch base
metals after being transubstantiated into the body and blood
of Christ, so the interior of the chalice and the upper
surface of the paten might be gilded. Silver-filigree was
often set against a gilt background, to showcase the work.
No 7 FORGING
Forging is the process of hammering a sheet of silver into a predetermined shape,
using a template.
For smaller objects the silver sheet was placed over a hole in a stake (miniature
anvil). A ball-peen chisel (with rounded head) was placed on top of the silver, and
the other end was struck with a mallet to form a rounded indentation of the desired
from.
Around 1900 a large quantity of snuff-boxes were
made in Iceland, comprising two halves stamped
out of a sheet of silver. With rounded edges, they
were convenient to carry in a pocket.
Silver objects and patterns were also formed in
steel dies. The sheet of silver was placed between
two dies, and struck with a mallet. In later times
the pressure was provided by manually operated mechanical presses.
6
Cabinets 8-11 - Installation of various kind of silver objects
No 8 CUTLERY
Silver cutlery was not commonly seen in
ordinary Icelandic homes, but many
people owned a silver spoon. These
were treasured objects, often the only
“quality” goods in the home, and brought out only on special occasions.
Many upper-class homes owned sets of silver cutlery that were reserved
for use by visitors.
Over the centuries spoons were moulded and formed by hammering
(forging). In due course they were made by hammering between dies,
first using mallets, and in later times by pressing using clamps, then in
electric presses.
Spoons were often given to infants as “teething gifts” when the first tooth
appeared. Today they remain classic christening gifts.
SKART / FINERY
No 9 LADIES JEWELLERY
Silver ornaments from women’s national
costume, dating from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, make up the largest
part of the National Museum’s collection
of silver. An important factor here is the
popularity of national costume after new
forms of national dress were designed around 1860.
The new ceremonial skautbúningur included rich silver
7
ornament.
Before the renaissance of women’s national dress in the latter half of the
19th century, the popularity of traditional “women’s silver” had declined,
and much Icelandic silver jewellery was melted down for reuse, or sold to
foreign buyers.
An older national costume – faldbúningur
No 10 WHIPS
Silversmiths used to make whips in large quantities. Nickel-silver rather than silver
was generally used for whips, as it is far more durable. A fine whip was a status
symbol in a rural society where horses played a vital role. On arriving at a
farmstead, a visitor would often use his or her whip to knock at the front wall of the
house. And when a fight broke out, whips might serve as weapons.
8
WALKING STICKS AND “SKÚFHÓLKAR”
In past times, a silver-bound walking-stick was a sign of wealth and privilege. The
owner might swing his walking stick as he walked, to show it off.
One of the characteristic features of Icelandic
dress is a tasselled cap, worn with the upphlutur
costume (with laced bodice) and the peysuföt
(with long-sleeved jacket).
The skúfhólkur is a cylindrical (usually silver)
ornament
conceals
that
the
join
between the cap and
the
tassel. (See two caps
hanging inside the
cabinet). A sheet of
silver
is
soldered
into a cylindrical shape, which is then ornamented on the
outside surface in a variety of ways.
9