Crowning the North

What’s on display

The exhibition will open in two stages: one gallery before summer, with the remainder unveiled in the autumn.

Some of the objects require preparation for display and will undergo conservation following their long journey.

This summer, visitors can look forward to encountering monumental beer tankards and splendid ceremonial cups from Bergen’s golden age.

In the autumn, the exhibition offers a glimpse into 18th-century social culture, featuring coffee, tea, and chocolate pots. It will also present Marius Hammer’s enamel works, created for international tourists in the years leading up to the First World War.

The exhibition tells not only the story of how Bergen became a major centre for goldsmithing in Scandinavia, but also how these silverworks bear witness to cultural and economic connections with other parts of the world.

Recent art historical research has increasingly recognised that materials themselves—not just the finished objects—have histories of their own. In this way, production in Bergen is interwoven with broader international narratives.

Returning home from the United States

Since 2024, more than 200 silver objects from Bergen have been on loan to the exhibition Crowning the North.

The exhibition has been shown at two of the United States’ leading art museums: the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

It was curated by Misty Flores (MFAH), with assistance from Morten Spjøtvold of Kode.

Kode holds the largest public collection of silver in Norway and contributed an extensive loan, alongside the Stiftelsen Bergenssølvet, the University Museum of Bergen, the Nordenfjeldske Museum of Decorative Arts, and Christen Sveaas.