Sleeping among symbols

Sleeping among symbols
This bed is made in the extravagant Baroque style – specifically a style called ‘Cartilage Baroque’ because its forms resemble the cartilage that gives shape to the human ear. The sculptor brings out major contrasts by emphasising the light and shadow in the material. Figuratively, the forms also represent moral values such as the differences between right and wrong, or good and evil.

The sculptor, called Peiter, is one of the most important artisan craftsmen working in Norway in the 17th century. He arrives in Norway in the 1630s from the town of Eckernförde in Germany and produces beautiful works of art for both churches and private clients along the entire Norwegian coast. From 1657 he lives in Stavanger, and from this time produces a large number of fine furniture items and church art. It was fashionable among rich parents at this time to give fine, decorated furniture such as beds, closets or chests as wedding presents to their children. All the objects in this room have been made by Peiter the sculptor.