The Blue Bird

 "The Bluebird of Happiness" seems to be a wide-spread symbol across several cultures, representing "hope, love, renewal, and the beauty of life". References to it can be found in old mythology and folklore from various corners of the world, as well as in modern popular culture. 

 

This little blue glass bird used to belong to my paternal grandmother. I remember it sitting in one of the windows of her glazed veranda. Nowadays it lives in my bedroom window. 

In Maurice Maeterlinck's 1908 stage play named The Blue Bird, two children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, are sent out by the fairy Bérylune to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their house all along and they create great happiness for another by giving their pet bird to the sick neighbor child. (Source: Wikipedia)

Pukeberg Glassworks

Road Trip 2018, Part 8

Next stop on our road trip (still on the 2nd day) was Pukeberg, another of Sweden’s oldest and most well-preserved glassworks. Glass in a variety of different forms has been produced here since 1871, including household glassware, lamp glass and glass globes for petrol pumps, as well as beautiful art glassware.

Here we also found Riksglasskolan = The National School of Glass; and some of their projects on display at an exhibition.

In the giftshop I fell in love with this pendant, which I could not resist buying:

 

Because of the variety of colours the pendant goes well with a lot of items in my wardrobe. I especially love those peacock colours, though!

Kosta Boda Glassworks & Art Gallery

Road Trip 2018, Part 6

From Växjö we went on to Kosta Glasbruk, the oldest, largest and most famous glassworks in Sweden. It was founded in 1742 by two foreign officers in king Charles XII's army, and the name of the place is actually made up of parts of both their surnames, Ko(skull) + Sta(el). Many more glassworks were also founded in the surrounding area, which has become known as the "Kingdom of Crystal".

During the first 150 years, Kosta produced standard glassware, such as drinking glasses, bottles or window glass. Later they became known for employing creative glass designers as well as skillful glassblowers. Together, they develop new techniques and improve existing procedures. Nowadays Kosta has merged with Boda glassworks, and is still producing various kinds of both utility and art glassware.

Today, the premises surrounding the glassworks has grown into a gigantic shopping mall including all kinds of retail outlet stores – not only glassware, but for example clothes as well. The glassworks is also open to visitors. You can observe glassblowers at work or participate in a guided tour; but we did not do that on this occasion. For one thing, the day was hot enough anyway (!) - and we also knew we were going to have more opportunities like that at other glassworks on our trip.

As it was lunchtime when we arrived, we started with lunch at the Outlet restaurant (…not at the luxurious spa hotel which can also be found within the premises…) After that we focused on the Kosta Boda Art Gallery, where a number of very impressive artworks made of glass are displayed – and, before we left, also a visit to the glassware retail outlet.

 

 

So many wonderful things to see, and so many names to forget…! But some of the artists whose impressive work we had recently seen in Växjö Cathedral and the Swedish Glass Museum were represented here as well – like Bertil Vallien (above) and Ulrica Hydman-Vallien (below).

…

As souvenir from this glassworks I chose to buy six ordinary, clear drinking glasses, though – because I needed some, and I liked them, and they’re something I can use every day!

Note: Bruk in Swedish can mean either ‘works’ (factory) or ‘use’

Museums of History, Glassware and Emigration

(Road Trip 2018, Part 5)

On Tuesday morning (17th July), after having checked out from the hotel, but before leaving Växjö, we visited Smålands Museum, The Swedish Glass Museum and The House of Emigrants – all situated in the same park.

Smålands Museum

Established in 1867, Smålands museum is Sweden’s oldest county museum. Its permanent exhibitions include objects and historical items from the Stone Age and onwards. The museum also displays temporary exhibitions.

▲Old buildings in the museum park.
▼Sceneries and objects from inside the museum

Shoemaker’s workshop

Old bicycle with a steering wheel

Old luggage trunks, often called “American trunks” here, because of so many people emigrating to America in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Church organ built in 1690 by organ- and keyboard instrument maker Hans Heinrich Cahman Cahman, Stockholm (c. 1640-1699)

The Swedish Glass Museum

The Swedish Glass Museum has been collecting glass and documents from Swedish glassworks for over 80 years, making up one of the largest and most extensive collections in Europe. Today, the collection includes around 40,000 items of glassware, from 105 Swedish glassworks, dating from the 1580s up to the present day. The Swedish Glass Museum also runs research and documentation programs concerning glass and glass handling.

Looking down from above into the gift shop.

Ulrica Hydman Vallien (24 March 1938 – 21 March 2018) was a Swedish artist who specialized in stained glass and decorative painting. In Sweden, she became best known for her vases with motifs of sinuous snakes, tulips and wolves. She was married to Bertil Vallien, who made the altar-screen in Växjö Cathedral (see my previous post). There was a special exhibition of her works just now, as she died earlier this year:

(There will be more glass art in future posts as we also visited four glassworks on our trip.)

The House of Emigrants

The House of Emigrants (built in 1968) includes an archive, library, museum, and research center on the Emigration period as well as the current Immigration in Sweden.

The House of Emigrants also features a reconstruction of the author Vilhelm Moberg’s study, with his authentic furniture and other belongings.

Moberg is best known for his Emigrants series. The individual titles of the four novels are: Utvandrarna (The Emigrants), Invandrarna (The Immigrants), Nybyggarna (The Settlers) and Sista brevet till Sverige (The Last Letter to Sweden). They have all been translated into English, and are generally considered to be among the best pieces of Swedish literature. They were also made into two films by Jan Troell back in the early 1970s (starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman). In the 1990s, the musical Kristina från Duvemåla* by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson also became a great success, both in Sweden and abroad. *(Later on the same day of our trip, we also visited the real Duvemåla.)

The main characters of the novels, Karl-Oskar and Kristina (emigrating from Småland to Minnesota), have kind of become national symbols in Sweden for the whole period of emigration to North America back between the mid 1800s and into the early 1900s. I think that in our time (with lots of immigrants coming to Europe rather than emigrants leaving), we do need to be reminded every now and then, that it’s really only been a century or so since the situation was reversed…

Postcard of a painting from 1872 showing “emigrants arriving at Göteborg/Gothenburg” (to take a ship from there to America)

(Coincidence: Just after I got home from our trip, Swedish Television started sending reruns of the 1970s Emigrants films as TV-series… So I’ve been watching!)