Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1983, Page 112

116
ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
Aftan við er eftirfarandi sem ekki tókst að ráða í:
ZUtSUbYS|KMIbKNKS|bÞggD
Vísan hafði verið skrifuð á miða, sem límdur var undir keflið. Var hann
að hluta læsilegur, en máður og nokkuð rifinn.
Keflið var ekki sett á uppboð, og er enn í eigu hr. P. H. Sykes í
Hereford í Englandi. Hann vissi ekki mikið um uppruna þess, en sagð-
ist hafa erft það eftir móður sína, þegar hún dó. Taldi hann það hafa
verið lengi í eigu fjölskyldunnar, en ekki vissi hann hvort það hefði til-
heyrt móður- eða föðurætt sinni. Taldi hann sig reyndar minnast þess
að hafa heyrt móður sína segja, að hún vissi ekkert hvaðan það kæmi,
eða til hvers það hefði verið notað. Hr. Sykes vissi heldur ekki til þess,
að fjölskylda sín hefði nokkurn tíma haft nein tengsl við ísland.
Undirrituð hafði trafakefh þetta ekki lengi í höndum til athugunar,
en skilar hér með til föðurhúsa upplýsingum um einn þeirra mörgu
hluta sem villst hafa að heiman einhvern tíma á árum áður.
SUMMARY
This note reports on an Icelandic mangle which the author was asked to examine by
Phillips, Fine Arts Auctioneers & Valuers of London, who received it for valuation. This
is the upper board (see photograph), used in conjunction with a round lower one. After
washing, cloth was rolled onto the lower board, then rolled with the upper board until
smooth. Mangles were particularly used for tröf, a sort of head scarf which formed part
of the old head gear, trafafaldur. They were often presented to young women by their
admirers, hence the elaborate, personal carving on them. The acceptance by a lady of a
mangle was often regarded as token of an official engagcment.
This particular mangle is probably made of beach. It has two handles, one carved to
form a clenchcd fist, the other an animals head, and both commonly found on mangles
in Iceland. The latter is thought to have been used to make the object look old - as e.g.
the animal heads on Viking ships’ sternposts. The date and place of manufacture is
written in the Latin alphabet and Roman numbers on top of the mangle: Anno 1709, the
5th of the 4th, made at Rif on Skagi. All the other planes are filled with a verse written
in höfðaletur - an ornamental alphabet style, almost totally restricted to woodcarving and
metalwork. The verse describes the virtues of the owner, whose initials, S B D, are car-
ved on the back of the fist with letters formed of plant-elements. The same initials are car-
ved onto the other side of the hand in ordinary letters, together with two crosses.
Upon valuation the mangle was returned to its owner, Mr. P.H. Sykes of Hereford,
England, in whose possession it remains.
Ellen Marie Mageroy, 1967. Planteornamentikken i islandsk treskurd. En stilhistorisk
studie. Bibliotheca Amamagnœana. Supplementum Vol. V & VI. Munksgaard, Hafniæ,
1967.