Bergen and Sunnmøre, Norway, ca. 1740
Silver, gold wash, glass, silk
Vesterheim, C5632 - Gift of Martha Skaar, Ragnhild Skaar, and Gunvor Skaar Gooding
Solar symbols were often components of women’s headdresses and crowns in Norway, as well as in Russia and Estonia. They link the woman’s head to the heavens and attract the sun’s good forces and fertilizing rays. On this bridal crown, rayed solar disks are stamped around the base, while cut-out suns form the points of the crown. Small birds also symbolize the heavens and hold cupped disks in their beaks.
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