Jul i 1924 / Christmas in 1924
Heritage Gallery Exhibition
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Danebo’s groundbreaking, the Danish American Center’s Heritage Committee is proud to present an installation bringing you into a dining room decked out for Christmas 1924.
On the dining table…
Hedebo Embroidered Tablecloth
Hedebo is a form of whitework embroidery that originated from the Danish farming community of the “Heden” (heath), an area between Copenhagen, Køge and Roskilde in the 1700s. The style of the tablecloth shown is called Udklipshedebo. Developed in the mid-nineteenth century, this form of Hedebo needle lace that uses cut work and embroidered lace techniques. Udklipshedebo patterns are filled with curves, points, and Hedebo rings (wheels). The lace-embroidered areas are often surrounded by embroidered leaves worked in satin stitch, which may be padded with small stitches underneath. From the 1900s onwards, Udklipshedebo was found in almost every middle-class home on tablecloths, serviettes, tea cosies and women’s garment collars.
Royal Copenhagen Porcelain
The table is set with Royal Copenhagen’s second oldest pattern, “Blue Flower” (Blå Blomst). Originally designed by G.F. Hetsch in 1779 as a coffee set, it features a variety of Danish summer flowers (tulips, roses, bindweed, poppies, auricula primroses, and carnations) all hand-painted in the signature Royal Copenhagen cobalt blue. The “Blue Flower”pattern was expanded to a dinner service in 1913 by Arnold Krog after he was appointed artistic director of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory. This pattern is no longer in active production, though it did serve as the inspiration for the new pattern “Blomst,” a 2018 collaboration with Dutch artist Wouter Dolk.
Hyacinth Vase by Fyens Glasværk
In the 1920s, forcing hyacinth bulbs was a popular practice in Denmark, particularly among gardeners who wanted fresh flowers indoors during the winter months. This design first appeared in the Fyns Glasværk catalog in 1924.
Disko Candlesticks by Just Andersen
Just Andersen (1884-1943) was a Danish decorative sculptor and silversmith. He is best known for his candleholders, vases, and figurines using pewter, brass, copper, and Disko, an alloy he invented combining lead and antimony. Born in Godhavn, Greenland, Andersen studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen before attending the School of Danish Crafts under Jens Møller-Jensen in 1912. Upon finishing school, he designed works for Georg Jensen and in 1918 opened his own silversmith company, Just Andersen Pewter. Andersen died on December 11, 1943 in Glostrup, Denmark. His works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Museum in Stockholm, among others.
Holmegaard Glassware
The “Ulla” wine glass design seen here in green & clear, was first released in 1923. It was one of Holmegaard’s most popular designs until it was discontinued in 1992.
The story of Holmegaard Glassværk is really the story of one of Denmark’s first female business leaders, Countess Henriette Danneskiold-Samsøe. In 1823, her husband, Count Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe applied to King Frederick VI to build a glassworks in response to the King’s decision to tax imported glass. The recently acquired Holmegaard marsh was seen as an ideal location for a local glassworks as peat from the bogs would provide excellent fuel for the high-temperature ovens necessary in glass making. Sadly, the Count died later that year before receiving a reply to his application. His widow, Henriette, was left with six children. Luckily, Henriette had been born into a noble Copenhagen family that prized the ideals of the Enlightenment such as reason and progress. Through her tutor, Peder Deichmann, she received an unusually versatile education for girls. So, when two years after her husband’s death, the Countess received the King’s permission to construct the glassworks, she decided to forge on with the project.
Henriette also drove forward the innovative concept of business social responsibility. All her employees were given health care, dental care and land nearby to build housing. Holmegaard was a good distance from Copenhagen, and not a bustling town in the least. So as she also wanted to create a sense of culture in the community, she welcomed, encouraged and invited tradesman to visit the factory and sell their goods to create a vibrant community that benefited both the workers and tradesman.
Though she didn’t live to see her glassworks become the globally recognized sensation it is today, Henriette’s driving philosophy, that every Dane (not just the elite) should have a beautiful drinking glass has served Holmegaard Glassworks well.
On the walls…
Martin Nelsen Portrait (DAC Collection)
Martin Nelson was a prominent Danish immigrant to the Twin Cities who was instrumental in the creation of the Danebo Home for the Aged in the 1920s.
Danish Farmyard Painting (on loan from the Loschenkohl Family)
Depiction of a typical 19th century farm building with half-timbered, white-washed walls and a straw roof with distinctive wooden ‘crows feet’ at the peak
Danish Landscape Painting (DAC Collection)
The pink church in this painting likely points to the landscape depicting a rural area on either Lolland or Falster, the two islands to the south Sjaelland just north of the northern German coastline known for this distinctive salmon-red church color
Bornholmerur (DAC Collection)
The Bornholm clockmaking tradition began in the 1740s when, legend has it, an English ship ran aground, damaging a number of clocks in its cargo. The clocks were included and were delivered to a woodworker in Rønne for repair. As he repaired them, he gained such insight into the design of the clocks that he began making them himself. By the nineteenth century, these clocks from Bornhom (“Bornholmer”) had became so popular that they were synonymous with the quiet comfort of a hyggelig home.
On the side table…
Vintage Ceramics / Faience
Vintage blue bowl, vase and pitcher by Herma Kahler Hak of Denmark.
On the tree…
Flettede Julehjerter / Woven Christmas Hearts
The first woven Christmas heart is believed to have been made in the 1860s out of yellow and green paper by Danish fairytale author H.C. Andersen.Ten years later the hearts began hanging from Danish Christmas trees. Today there is hardly a single Christmas tree without at least one woven Christmas heart (preferably many!).
Kræmmerhuse / Paper Cones
Another of the oldest paper ornaments for Danish Christmas trees. Kræmmerhuse date from the 1860s when a simple, cone-shaped container often made from a piece of paper rolled up crookedly and originally used as packaging for sweets or vegetables was reimagined as a decoration with a paper handle to hold sweets on the Christmas tree.
Dannebrog / Danish Flag Garlands
Bedecking the Christmas tree with a garland of Danish flags, another tradition that flourishes even today, became especially popular in Denmark in 1864 after the end of the Second Schleswig War.
Levende Lys / Candles on the Tree
The tradition of ‘living lights,’ aka candles on the Danish Christmas tree is also a tradition born in the 1800s that persists today. Like many Christmas tree traditions, this one also began in Germany before finding its way north to Denmark. There are various theories about who came up with the idea of decorating the Christmas tree with candles, but one of the most popular gives the credit to the reformer Martin Luther. According to legend, while walking home one winter evening, Luther was inspired by the stars and evergreens. He brought a small fir tree into his home and decorated it with candles to remind his children of the stars over Bethlehem that led the Wise Men to the Christ child.