The pattern of this ceremonial drinking bowl--brightly painted and carved with horse-head handles--has been traditional in Sweden since Medieval times. The original use of a bowl like this may have been for a prehistoric ceremony that involved the sacrifice of horses, but the bowls continued to be made for centuries. The bowl, or kasa, is carved from a single block of birch, as all such pieces were. The revival of interest in Swedish folk art in the late 19th century made such bowls highly collectible, and new ones, such as this one, were also made.
Physical description
Ceremonial drinking vessel, wood, carved in the shape of a dragon and painted in bright colours.
Place of Origin
Norway (made)
Date
late 19th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Birch, carved and painted
Dimensions
Height: 22.5 cm, Width: 27.5 cm, Depth: 18 cm
Object history note
Given to the Museum by Mrs Alec Tweedie, with four other Norwegian objects from her ethnographic collection, which she described as 'odds & ends from a traveller' (Acquisition File). A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, her book 'An Adventurous Journey, Russia-Siberia-China' was published in 1929 (London, Thornton Butterworth 1929). Other items from her collection were passed on to Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, the Horniman Museum and the British Museum. She gave, and also bequeathed on her death in 1940, a wide variety of other objects to the V&A.
Descriptive line
Ceremonial drinking vessel or Kasa, wood, carved and painted, Norway, late 19th century.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Greenhalgh, Paul Ed., Art Nouveau : 1890 - 1914. London: V&A Publications, 2000. 464 p., 2.14pl, ill. ISBN 1851772774, p.47
Karen Livingstone and Linda Parry, eds., International Arts & Crafts (V&A: V&A Publications, 2005), p.286.
Exhibition History
Magic Worlds (Museums Sheffield, Weston Park 28/04/2012-06/01/2013)
Magic Worlds (Museum of Childhood 08/10/2011-04/03/2012)
Art Nouveau - 1890-1914 (Victoria and Albert Museum 06/04/2000-30/07/2000)
International Arts and Crafts
International Arts & Crafts (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 18/06/2006-18/08/2006)
International Arts & Crafts (Indianapolis Museum of Art 27/09/2005-22/01/2006)
International Arts & Crafts (Victoria and Albert Museum 17/03/2005-24/07/2005)
Art Nouveau (Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo 21/04/2001-08/07/2001)
International Arts and Crafts (Victoria and Albert Museum 06/04/2000-30/07/2000)
Labels and date
International Arts & Crafts:
Ceremonial drinking vessel
Late 19th century
Norway
Birch, carved and painted
V&A:W.104-1926 [17/03/2005]
Two-handled ale bowl (kjenge)
Carved and painted wood
1880-1920
This bowl's painted decoration combines characteristics of the popular acanthus decoration and motifs associated with the dragon style of the late 1890s, notably the interlacing animal forms derived from carvings found in excavated Viking ships.
Museum Number: W.104-1926 [1999]
Materials
Paint; Birch
Techniques
Painting; Carving
Categories
Drinking; Folk Art
Collection code
FWK
