MFAH, Houston: Crowning the North: Silver Treasures from Bergen, Norway

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is proud to present Crowning the North: Silver Treasures from Bergen, Norway, from February 11 through May 5, 2024. Co-organized by the MFAH and the KODE Art Museum in Bergen, this exhibition will feature some 200 remarkable examples of Norwegian silver from the past 400 years, including extravagant bridal crowns and magnificent examples of guild cups, candelabra, enamel works, and more. The Houston presentation is curated by Misty Flores, assistant curator at Rienzi, the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts.

Crowning the North: Silver Treasures from Bergen, Norway, explores the art of Bergen goldsmiths from the 16th to early 20th centuries and examines the evolution of the craft against the backdrop of extraordinary political, social, and economic change. Bergen, formerly the capital of Norway, was the largest port city in the country, which at the time was a colony of Denmark. Due to the city’s strategic location at the very northwestern edge of Europe, it came under the jurisdiction of the German Hanseatic League trading monopoly, which lasted for 300 years.

Bergen was a critically important economic center for global exchange, with foreign merchants bringing goods from all over the world and immigrants introducing new craft traditions from Europe. Central to the global economy at the time was silver sourced from colonies in Spanish America, which reached every corner of Europe. An abundance of silver, new markets for consumption, and the introduction of new craft traditions resulted in a unique artistic heritage in Bergen.

Bergen goldsmiths formed the first craft guild in Norway—the Goldsmith’s Guild—in 1568, initially comprised of German immigrants. The goldsmith tradition that evolved in Bergen allowed craftspeople, both men and women, to produce a range of wares that reflected a rapidly changing social landscape. As banks were not established in Norway until 1814, silver served as a status symbol and ensured financial security.

With the influx of global commodities from various European colonies, such as tobacco and coffee, goldsmiths responded by crafting elegant objects to meet consumer demand. For centuries, Bergen played a vital role in the production of gold and silver objects for both the urban and rural populations of the western coast and northern Norway. Initially crafted as financial investments, objects made of silver evolved into symbols of national pride as the country carved a path toward independence.

Please see MFAH website for details and tickets.

https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/crowning-north-silver-treasures-bergen-norway

Corporate sponsorship of Crowning the North: Silver Treasures from Bergen, Norway, is available. Please contact Meghan Thrash at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston via email: mthrash@mfah.org