Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1979, Page 176

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
provenance, the canopy is believed to be from Skáne in southern Sweden due to
Danish coats-of-arms included the embroidery.72 From Skáne also come the wall-
hangings. The two cloths have in Nordiska Museet and by at least one Swedish
scholar00 been dated to the fifteenth century, the canopy by Swedish scholars72' 74
to the second quarter or the second half of the sixteenth century. The present
author, who previously70 has considered NMI 898 to date from the same time as
the cloths in Nordiska Museet is still of that opinion, but now believes the date
there set to be too early. Also, further information would be welcome concerning
the validity of tliie dating of the canopy. With the present knowledge bf two ex-
tant pieces of comparable work in Iceland, one provided a church in 1733, the
other another church the same year or a few years earlier, the latter by a very
wealthy person as mentioned above, it seems extremely unlikely that the embroide-
ries they were made from should date back to the fiftheenth century, and unlike-
ly also to the sixteenth century, even if both show indications of having been
made from cloths intended for other purposes originally. Information accompany-
ing NMI 898 to the m,useum in 1872 stated that according to tradition the work
was Iceiandic.5' 0 This is possible, but not very likely in view of the similar work
existing in Sweden. More likely the original embroideries were executed,
perhaps to order, in some foreign workshop, the same as produced the
embroideries now in Stockholm, situated more likely than not in Skáne or in
Copenhagen .