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Marit Emstad

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Marit Emstad
Born
Marit Guldseth[a]

1841
Died1929(1929-00-00) (aged 87–88)

Marit Emstad[a] (1841–1929), also known as Marit Guldsetbrua Emstad, was a Norwegian knitter from Selbu credited for inventing Selbu's two-colored mittens, Selbuvotter, as a teenager.[2]

Life

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Marit Guldseth[a][4] was born in 1841 as the third child of Ola Nillsen and Anne Olsdatter Kjønes; Nillsen was from Andersgarden and Kjønes was from Oppigarden. Nillsen and Kjønes would later go on to have four more children. Marit Guldseth married Per Ingebriktsen Flønnesaut and became Marit Flønes; later in life she took the name "Emstad" from her married daughter, after moving in with her. She died in 1929.[2]

Knitting

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As a teenager,[b] sometime between 1854[6] and 1856,[7] Marit Emstad was working as a servant or goat herder for farmer Jo Kjønes[1][7] when somebody[c] made him stranded wristwarmers and stockings[1] with black and white patterning on the legs as a Christmas present.[6] Kjønes asked Marit if she could make something "as pretty". Marit spent the next year practising with her sisters, and eventually made a pair of white mittens with a black, eight-pointed star, inspired by patterns she had seen on a bridal headcovering (storbrurplagget).[1]

The next year, which was between 1855[6] and 1857, she and her sister wore the mittens they had knitted to the church in Selbu,[2][8] as was common practice during the time.[9][6] The other women at church found the mittens attractive, and Marit and her sister taught the eight-pointed star to friends and neighbors.[8] They began incorporating the design, later known as the selburose, in other garments,[9] and it became very popular in the Selbu.[2][8] Knitted mittens with selburoses known as Selbuvott, became more popular than the region's traditional nålebinding mittens, to the point where they replaced them.[8][10] They also enjoyed popularity as wedding gifts. Each women attending a wedding would make a pair of the mittens for display during the wedding. Afterwards, the bride would distribute the mittens amongst the men, giving the mittens knitted by married women to their husbands.[11][12]

A pair of black and white Norwegian mittens
Black and white Selbuvotter with the eight-pointed design

Commercial production of garments with selburoses, particularly mittens began in the 1890s, organized in Selbu by Marit Emstad.[9][13] In 1897, she sold the first pair of stranded mittens to the Trondheim Husflid.[14][5] During this time, she was becoming more widely known in Norway for her knitting and her role in the cottage industry. In 1912, at the age of 71, she took part n the "Home Arts Craft Exhibition for Trondhjem's Foundation" and was one of the three Selbu knitters awards a cash prize for her knitting. Two years later, she participated in the 1914 Jubilee Exhibition in Oslo and won a certificate for her knitting, weaving, and yarn.[15]

In 1926[6] or 1927,[8] Peder Morset[16] wrote an article for the Trondheim newspaper about the history of knitting in Selbu, including Marit Emstad's life and work. She died a few years later.[8][6]

Legacy

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Marit Emstad posthumously became known as the "mother of two-color knitting" in Norway,[2] as is widely credited as the first knitter to place selburoses on mittens, a style which became known as Selbuvott.[17][2] The Emstadrosa, the type of selburose she originated, was named after her family.[18] On the 150th anniversary of the Selbu mitten's creation, the Selbu Husflid, Selbu Husflidsl, and Selbu Bydemuseum awarded a certificate named for Emstad.[19]

Marit Emstad Medal

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The Marit Emstad medal was an silver medal given by the Selbu Husflidscentral between 1965 and 1971 to knitters "who had made especially valuable work for promoting good home crafts and small industry in Neadalen". The medal was designed by silversmith Eiliv Overvik, and it was given to a total of 26 people, including 17 women and three men from Selbu.[15]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c First name also spelt Mærit;[1] maiden name Guldseth has also been spelt Guldset, Gullset, Gullseth, Gullsethbrau,[2] and Gulsetbrun,[1] and sometimes given as Olsdatter.[3]
  2. ^ Widely said to be when she was fifteen or sixteen, some sources place her age as eleven [5]
  3. ^ The identity of the other knitter has been given as the elderly Ragnhild Kulset or the Kjønes's other young servant girl Marit Sessengsjari,[1] name also given as Ingbaer Sessengsjare[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Bardsgard 2022, Older sources.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bardsgard 2022, Marit Emstad.
  3. ^ Lindberg, Richard C. (2021). Heartland Serial Killers: Belle Gunness, Johann Hoch, and Murder for Profit in Gaslight Era Chicago. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-5017-5713-6.
  4. ^ Bardsgard 2022, Men's Mittens Knitted by Marit Emstad.
  5. ^ a b Segelcke, Nanna (1994). To Rette og en Vrang Unn Søiland Dale : Designerliv og Strikkeoppskrifter (in Norwegian Bokmål). Aschehoug. pp. 49–50. ISBN 978-82-03-26048-3. OCLC 1302555600.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g McGregor 2004, p. 45.
  7. ^ a b Shea 2007, p. 14.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Shea 2007, p. 15.
  9. ^ a b c Kinsella, Kajsa (2015). Nordicana: 100 Icons of Nordic Cool & Scandi Style. Cassel Illustrated. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-84403-805-3.
  10. ^ McGregor 2004, pp. 45–46.
  11. ^ Shea 2007, p. 16.
  12. ^ McGregor 2004, p. 46.
  13. ^ American-Scandinavian Review, vol. 51–52, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1963, p. 286
  14. ^ Shea 2007, p. 17.
  15. ^ a b Bardsgard 2022, Honors–Medals and Certificates.
  16. ^ McGregor 2004, p. 41.
  17. ^ Lynch, Annette; Strauss, Mitchell D., eds. (2015). Ethnic dress in the United States: a cultural encyclopedia. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-7591-2148-5.
  18. ^ Shea 2007, p. 18.
  19. ^ Bardsgard 2022, Noting the Knitting Tradition in Contemporary Times.

Bibliography

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