Postcard showing the interior of the “Norwegian House” inside the museum in Decorah. The furnishings were sent by De Sandvigske Samlinger in 1927 and put on display in 1933. Artist rendering by Charles Phillip Hexom. Vesterheim Archives.
The Gifts from Norway by Laurann Gilbertson
V
esterheim is pleased to join with institutions in Norway this year to honor museum pioneer and visionary Anders Sandvig. Sandvig founded Maihaugen Museum in Lillehammer, Norway, and influenced numerous other museums, including Vesterheim.1 Anders Sandvig was born 150 years ago, on May 11, 1862, on the Hustad farm in Fræna, Romsdal, Norway. He would have been a fisherman like his father, but suffered from seasickness. Instead he went to Kristiansund and apprenticed with a goldsmith. He became acquainted with the local dentist and decided to go into the emerging dental profession. He studied in Kristiansund, Oslo, and Berlin and then opened his own practice in Lillehammer in 1885.2 His practice served all of the Gudbrandsdal Valley. As he traveled, he developed an increasing appreciation for the rural culture, folk art, and architecture. He was concerned that the 26
material culture would disappear from the valley to Stockholm and that the old ways would be forgotten.3 Sandvig started his own collection of rural items in 1887 with the purchase of a wooden tankard from Lesja. The tankard was carved with images of the twelve Apostles and scenes from the Bible. His collection grew quickly and in 1894 he purchased his first building, a house from Skjåk, and moved it into his backyard. Sandvig began a more systematic approach to collecting in order to have examples of different types of houses and the appropriate objects with which to furnish them. In 1901 Sandvig sold his collection (De Sandvigske Samlinger) to the Lillehammer town council. Maihaugen, a location on the hillside above Lillehammer, became the new home of De Sandvigske Samlinger and the name for the museum that opened to the public in 1904. Sandvig was director of Maihaugen until 1946.4 Vesterheim