"King Cormonrant", Great cormorant with spread wings

"King Cormonrant", Great cormorant with spread wings

Metal sculpture of a great cormorant, a native seabird, with it´s wings spread. The bird is looking towards the sky and spreads it´s wings. The bird sits on a naturally rounded and grinded stone. The sculpture has a brass shine effect, that is a resutl of brushing brass onto the hot surface. The "King Cormorant" or "Kongeskarven" is the signature product of the practitioner and the Forge in Sund. The object is signed and dated on the buttom. (see attached media)

689

craftedobjects

2024

iain

Norwegian

Physical Object

Kongeskarven, storkarv med åpent vinger

02/07/2025

https://smedenisund.no/nettbutikk/ https://www.nb.no/items/6d10de6230df63d278e6a9e1fef16ec8?page=11&searchText=%22tor%20vegard%20m%C3%B8rkved%22 Asbjørnsen, P. Chr. (Peter Christen): Skarvene fra Utrøst. Cappelen, 1974 Gansum, Terje: Fra jern til stål : mytologiske og rituelle aspekter i teknologiske prosesser. Borre, Midgard historisk senter, 2002. https://www.nb.no/items/0b1664793a4dc5032499662692b054bc?page=7&searchText=%22kong%20olav%20v.%22%20%20gjertsen https://www.nb.no/items/7c395122e3290def1768522b23f730db?page=19&searchText=%22kong%20olav%20v.%22%20%20gjertsen https://www.nb.no/items/0b1664793a4dc5032499662692b054bc?page=0&searchText=%22kong%20olav%20V%22 https://nordnorge.com/en/aktiviteter/the-blacksmith-of-sund-offers-an-iron-souvenir-you-wont-be-finding-elsewhere/

8cm x 20.5cm x 15cm

current,68.004948,13.207371;

TEXT

https://culturality.museum/wiki/index.php/_"King_Cormonrant",_Great_cormorant_with_spread_wings

Metal (steel), natural stone

Cultural

metalwork

A metal cutter, coal forge, pliers, anvil, hand hammer, machine hammer, welding machine, brushes to polish the object, epoxy glue pplicator

Sundveien 118, 8384 Sund, Flakstad Municipality, Lofoten Islands, Nordland County, Norway

The metal comes from a distributor in Harstad. Tor-Vegard collets the stones himself from Finnmark.

The object was hot and warm forged by Tor-Vegard, then fastened onto a piece of stone. In details: Tor-Vegard cuts the steel into the required lengths and sizes. He forges the metal pieces in a coal forge. He welds together the pieces. The raw form of the figure is surface-treated and brushed, polished. The practitioner glues the finished figure onto the stone with epoxy glue.

The object has decorative and estetic functions.

The object was created for sale, in a daily operation of production.

Small scale production. Each product is formed by Tor-Vegard,one by one. Each piece is individual and unique.

The object itself is another version of the cormorant figure, that became an emblematic artwork form Lofoten, produced by the blacksmith in Sund. The theme is a local sea bird, a cormorant, that is also known from legends from Lofoten (Skarvene fra Utrøst). Cormorants are a part of the landscape in West-Lofoten. The Forge in Sund and its cormorant sculpture is one of the earliest touristic attractions in Lofoten. As it became a phenomenon for tourists, local families also discovered the artwork and many families own an example in their homes. The cormorants as emblematic and well known product can add to local identity. The first known designs of the cormorant sculpture were created by the "old blacksmith" in Sund, Hans Gjertsen. In 1963 he gave one of the cormorant sculptures to King Olav V., who was visiting Lofoten to take part in the opening ceremonies of the new road between Å and Svolvær. The opening ceremony took place the first days of august, 1963. Hans Gjertsen surprised the king with a memory from Lofoten: a hand-forged cormorant, standing on a rounded granite stone. That version didnt have wings. New versions were later introduced. Tor-Vegard developed the products, and he creates new and different versions of the original, with different finishes and shines. The cormorant with open wings is made in different sizes, and colours.

MN_AR_09