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If you are a member of the Museum, you will receive our newsletter Flaggan. We have a column in the newsletter called Curators Corner. Below please find articles from recent issues of Flaggan.
By Veronica Robinson
If you have been through the Museum’s second-floor exhibit, A Dream of America, you have probably seen our kitchen exhibit featuring a table and chairs painted with Swedish folk designs and various culinary tools and utensils. One object on display in this room that you may have not noticed is a small wooden rooster perched on the back table. This colorful little bird is actually a relative of the carved Dala Horse, the famous Swedish fold craft that dates back over 300 years. The Dala Tupp—or rooster—is handmade using the same traditional techniques as the Dala Horse. Selma Jacobson donated this wonderful example to the Museum in 1992.
In many cultures, roosters are symbols of good luck and prosperity, especially when represented in the kitchen. In the Chinese Zodiac cycle, the rooster symbolizes intuition and honesty. Similarly, the legend of the Rooster of Barcelos, from Portugal, relates the story of a man, wrongly accused of a crime, who is proven innocent by the crow of a rooster. This story is celebrated by one of Portugal’s own traditional folk crafts, a carved wooden rooster, which is a popular Portuguese souvenir. In Italy, legend has it that an assassination attempt on the Medici Family was foiled by the crowing of roosters, and so the family gave the peasants in their village ceramic wine pitchers decorated like roosters to celebrate the lucky birds. In France, roosters are considered a national symbol of prosperity and were featured on the reverse side of the 20-Franc gold coins between 1899 and 1914.
Next time you are in the Museum, see if you can spot our lucky kitchen Dala Tupp!
Veronica Robinson joined the Swedish American Museum in late March of this year. She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University. Her previous employment includes working with the Ypsilanti Historical Society Museum and Archives and the Wyandotte Historical Museum. She moved from Michigan to Chicago in late December of 2009, and is very excited to join the Swedish American Museum team and to help implement the Museum’s strategic plan.
