A ring will gather them, a ring will find them…
In this case, a ring should remind them. The ring in the picture is made to commemorate the late Henrik Dinclow Bruun. His name is neatly engraved on the outside of the ring and one easily gets associations to The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien 1954). The ring was produced in 1827 in Bergen. The flower forget-me-not is placed in the middle of the frame, and is surrounded by hair. Human hair. Which most likely belonged to Henrik. Such commemorative rings with human hair were common in the 1800s among people in higher social strata.
The photo exhibition My ship is loaded with… showcases unique objects from the Bruun family. They set up a shipping business in the mid-1700s on Børøya in Hadsel. Jekta was the vessel of adventures, which brought the basis of life and great wealth up from Bergen, the continent and the rest of the world. These ships brought the world to Vesterålen.
Peder Bruun came to Børøya from Gildeskål in 1762. He married Maren Aagaard Schytte in 1773. The couple had a son, Henrik Dinclow Bruun. Henrik had three jekts in operation between Vesterålen and Bergen. There was a lot of money to be made by being the owner of a jekt, not least three!
As the link between the fisheries in Vesterålen and the merchant classes in Trondheim and Bergen, the family built up great wealth. The jekts brought good stockfish to Bergen and fantastic goods back. Beautiful tailor designed jewelry, richly decorated and fashionable textiles, and oddities from faraway lands.
Through the artefacts, we get an insight into the everyday life and celebrations of a shipping family in its heyday of the 17th and 1800s. The exhibition consists of 24 photos and a text poster. Each image also has its own small text. All photos are taken by photographer Eirik Aspelund Linder.
My ship is loaded with…
A photo exhibition about the objects left by the Bruun family and the story about them.
The exhibition is owned by Melbo Hovedgård and will be shown in 2025 at Bø Museum from 30.1 – 30.3, and at Øksnes Museum 28.6 – 10.8.
