CIAO! Mi chiedevo se qualcuno potesse aiutarmi a scoprire alcuni dei cimeli norvegesi che mia madre e mia nonna mi hanno lasciato.
Mia nonna lo portò a mia zia Patricia nel 1970. Non riesco proprio a capire il nome di dove.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1gsb8s6
di BigBunnieeHan
12 Comments
Can it be Rubraaten? A place in Hurum.
Looks like Brought from Nebraska to me, honestly.
Just to bring it to you: Your “Norwegian” family heirloom has its description in English in stead of in Norwegian.
I googled a little, and found this American seller who sells a similar item
[**https://www.etsy.com/listing/1702828041/hilsen-fra-norge-dancer-trivet**](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1702828041/hilsen-fra-norge-dancer-trivet)
I’m afraid this isn’t Norwegian. And I fear most Norwegians would find it incredibly tacky. Looks like something fake «Norwegian» from a tacky tourist store. Not proper Norwegian language either.
I’m sorry, but this seems like it’s made in the USA. The fact that the label is in English for one, and the painting looks like something just made to look like rosemaling, but painted right on canvas. And why write ”here you go”. I think your relatives have been tricked to believe this is real, unfortunately.
This is not norwegian.
It is just not right, no one uses English on rosemalte things, if it is made in Norway
And, the colours are way off. Yellow, green and red is traditional. And black in some extent.
It literally says “Brought from Nebraska” on the label.
Is this objekt a glazed ceramic tile? In addition to use as a decor object, they can be used on a table, to avoid marks/stains from a water carafe, a wine bottle or even a coffee pot.
«Vær saa god» (or vær så god) does literally translated mean «here you go», but is more a synonym for «bon apetit». This is something a host (or at least the person who prepared a meal) would say to the others at the table when the meal starts. So it’s a well known shorthand for hospitality.
Writing «aa» instead of «å» is not uncommon – to present a more historic feeling. Rosemaling tradition is often about re-using old patterns and designs, including old spellings.
Quite a few people in Norway and Denmark have first names and family names with «aa» instead of «å». Including first names for people born long after the 1917 introduction of the letter «å».
The Danish city of Aalborg is still written with «aa», after years of discussion: https://www.aalborg.dk and both ways of spelling is accepted in Denmark, even if «å» actually is recommended by the Danish national language council: https://da.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aalborg
The Norwegian town Ålesund has had a similar discussion – their local soccer/football club spells it «Aalesund»: https://www.aafk.no while the town administration uses «å» for the name of the town: https://alesund.kommune.no
The soccer/football club in question was founded in 1914, and the letter «å» (replacing «aa») was officially introduced in Norway in 1917.
It’s difficult to say if this is made in Norway or not, but at least consider that around and before 1970, souvenirs sold in Norway were not «made in China» – there was hardly any trade between Norway and China at the time.
And – I respecfullt disagree with those who described this as «tacky». Similar colours and styles were quite popular also around 1970 in then contemporary, non-touristic home decor, including porcelain and ceramics. Many people in Norway have rosemaling decor objects at home, including newer objects in older styles.
Thank you all for the feedback! My family does have Norwegian ancestry and my grandmother travelled there a few times. I wasn’t sure this was something she brought back or picked up somewhere else.
I appreciate the feedback!