Figurines

Narrator: 

These three little fellows were made by the Norwegian postman Jørgen Garnås on behalf of the king of Denmark-Norway in the middle of the 18th century, at a time when the empire was at its most wealthy.  

Mathias Danbolt, professor of art history at the University of Copenhagen, tells us more… 

Mathias Danbolt: 

He made small dolls of the people he probably met on his postal routes. And at some point, these figures ended up in the King's private museum in Copenhagen. 

Narrator: 

Garnås was in his 40s, and the king ordered several of these small figures of Norwegian and Sami people. They are wearing detailed folk costumes and many of them hold work tools in their hands. Garnås was the creator of something completely unique… 

Mathias Danbolt: 

We don’t have many other sculptures from that time, neither in miniature or full-size, that show ordinary people. Usually it is the Greek gods, or the king himself and other powerful people. So having large sculptures of ordinary people is quite new at that time. 

Narrator: 

Garnås made figures from all over Norway.  

Sixty of these small figures were then used as templates by a German sculptor to create human-size versions which were exhibited in the king's new park at Fredensborg Castle. 

The sculptures were placed in an amphitheater at Nordmansdalen park. But as Mathias Danbolt points out, the sculptures were probably not a tribute to ordinary people. This was not a democratic project… 

Mathias Danbolt: 

We should probably think of it more as an expression that the king wants to make his kingdom and power visible, that Normandalen is a bit more like a form of puppet theater where workers and farmers are exhibited for the king's pleasure. And how the subjects have been central to being able to build up the wealth of the Danish-Norwegian empire at that time. What we today, with a modern word, would call a propaganda machine to showcase the power of the monarchy. 

Narrator: 

The sculptures, made after Garnås's prototypes, can be seen in the park at Fredensborg Castle north of Copenhagen.