Duodji

[ChrisWebb2020]

Fantastic article and those ate done of the most beautiful and amazing hand made items I've see, easily comparable to the Staffordshire Horde.

Breath taking.

Thank you for the article

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[Janne]

It is interesting that I have tried to include links to all of the craftspeople mentioned but some I have been quite unable to find online at all.

It may be because of a lack of digital infrastructure in relatively remote areas or it may be because some of the craftspeople are relatively elderly and less digitally aware than the younger generation.

While I much prefer to purchase items like this in person, being able to handle them first. The cost of such trips is a significant factor which may well influence my buying habits in the future.

As some of the younger and highly talented craftspeople start moving online I may well start treating myself from time to time.

The vast majority of people in Sweden, including the Same, have faster internet connection than in UK.
The older ones I guess just are not interested in the 'net.

I also prefer to handle things I buy, seeing the details and choosing what 'speaks' to me!

 

[Dreadhead]

what a collection! drooling over some of the leather gear, it just has that finishing touch which is very rare to see. One day I will make it over there!

 

[udamiano]

I got some socks 🤔 oh and some really nice dense Alk antler. Lol

Not sure who made the socks, but they are lovely and warm

Wayland got the best of the market 👍and even found some nice bits in the local charity shop definitely got a nose for fine things 😊


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[SGL70]

I am not sure they used to give it to the animals historically. Salt was expensive.

The forum member SGL is a better expert on all things northern Swedish than I am! I hope he chimes in!

Well, even if I am part Sami I am no expert, really

Salt - super expensive and as such, a lot of attention went into showing off the salt flask, for instance.

About cultural sensitivity....that's a tricky one. I can easily see the benefit of the Doudji tag to corner the market in a way....but the thing is that the patterns have celtic origins (according to two real experts)...so culture without influx is dead...
Well made envgraving is hard to do and it is time consuming (i know) - all well made ones is a boon to the Sami culture (regardless of the makers heritage) imho.

Online resource: Not Duodji, but certainly Sami - https://www.stoorstalka.com/

@Wayland: Are the items made by Per Erik Nilsson labelled 'PEN' on the back, by any chance? Lovelly collection, by the way. Functional art - Love it!

Greger

 

[Janne]

Salt was very expensive commodity in the old days. One major source was the area around Saltzburg in todays Austria. Shipping routes radiated from that area, and many a local chieftain/king became rich by taxing it during the trek through their territories.

The expense of it is the reason why the Cod (Lofoten Skrei cod) was originally only airdried. Called Stockfish.
When salt from Spain, Italy and later Poland, the price dropped and the Cod could be salted and dried (Bacalao)

It is thought that the Viking settlement discovered in the Lofotens some decades ago ( largest Viking long house in Europe) was inhabited by a local king that became rich by controlling the dried cod in that area.
It is in this rebuilt long house Weyland used to create his handicraft.

The lofotens are still a major producer of both the dried and salted and dried cod.
In fact, the fishing season for the Skrei is in full swing right now!
I know quite a few Skrei have my name on it. I fly in 2 weeks!

 

[Wayland]

Snip>
@Wayland: Are the items made by Per Erik Nilsson labelled 'PEN' on the back, by any chance? Lovelly collection, by the way. Functional art - Love it!

Greger

Yes, but in a monogramatic form like this.

 

[Robson Valley]

SHL70: How interesting that the patterns, the designs, can be traced historically. Communication is never recent, is it?
Are there any fundamental differences in the designs used for kuksa and different ones for the salt containers and/or the knife sheaths?

Superficially, all the art and carvings from our Pacific Northwest native community looks the same.
In 20 minutes, I can teach you what to look for to distinguish the 4 fundamentally different suites of design elements.
The fakes are a mix.

 

[Janne]

The Same are divided in different groups (am I allowed to say tribes?) and they have fairly distinct styles.
It should be also said that the artwork of the past ( like 50 years ago and earlier) was much more simple and in most cases, very amateurish.

What we see today is more art than everday, decorated objects.

I am privileged enough to own a couple of pieces made by Lars Pirak one of the great "old" Lapp artists. (I write Lapp because that was what they were called in the old days!)

Two we use every day. His famous Salt Ripa. It is a salt container in the form of a Ptarmigan made from Reindeer antler
I had his son, Mikael Pirak, to make me a couple too, the most notable one is a pair, I commissioned specially, to be made from a Moose antler. About twice the size of the reindder ones.

I personally rate Same art to be one of the most beautiful 'ethnic' on our flat Earth!

 

[SGL70]

@Wayland: Ok, then I know who it is and I have met him a couple of times.

@Robson Valley: Well, Janne has the gist of it, I guess. As for differences in design, the one that is most easy to spot is the knife sheaths - the South Sami is less hooked, than the North Sami...think of a slightly straightened 'J' for south and a 'L' for North.

Greger

 

[Robson Valley]

Thank you all. Such strong parallels with the art and carvings of the Pacific Northwest.
I do enjoy learning of the regional differences.

 

[Wayland]

@Wayland: Ok, then I know who it is and I have met him a couple of times.

Greger

Well if you meet him again you can tell him I think his work is superb.

 

[Dogoak]

Brilliant Gary, a superb collection and a lovely write up, thanks for sharing.

 

[SGL70]

Well if you meet him again you can tell him I think his work is superb.

Sure, will do!

 

[oldtimer]

Thank you for taking the trouble to post such an informative and fascinating article.

It struck me that the range of items demonstrates the real essentials of life as one would expect of a nomadic culture that pares down any surplus baggage. How wonderful to be able to note that aesthetic considerations are counted as essentials. Form, function and beauty in every item.

William Morris said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." The Saami have mastered the knack of simplifying this to, "Carry nothing that you do not know to be useful AND believe to be beautiful."

 

[Night Phoenix]

That was a very interesting read and my word so many beautiful and skilled things. It is inspiring. You must be itching to make things after your trip. I am glad it was so wonderful and I hope one day to see it myself

 

[Wayland]

Thank you for taking the trouble to post such an informative and fascinating article.

It struck me that the range of items demonstrates the real essentials of life as one would expect of a nomadic culture that pares down any surplus baggage. How wonderful to be able to note that aesthetic considerations are counted as essentials. Form, function and beauty in every item.

William Morris said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." The Saami have mastered the knack of simplifying this to, "Carry nothing that you do not know to be useful AND believe to be beautiful."

That is so very true.

I hadn't heard the Wiliam Morris quote but it correlates well with my feeling that life is too short for ugly kit.

I think you are right about the Saami too. Even the simplest things that I have seen in museums or books seem to be made with a pride in their appearance and construction. That speaks to me on a very fundamental level.

The Inuit believe that you should make your hunting tools as well as possible or the spirits of the animals simply will not allow you to catch them. As a result, for them there is only one way to do a job and that is properly.

I get get the same sense from Saami craftsmanship and that is why I love it so much.

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks again. The Saami craftsmanship is something that I've rarely seen.

It's such an intimate relationship with the land and its animals.
Here in the PacNW, it is important to ask permission to take a life.
Clams and whales, cedars and deer, all treated with the same respect.