The Vestibule

The Vestibule

The woven tapestries are the room’s most significant objects and perfectly summarize what the rest of the furniture and fixtures convey: hospitality, a dignified reception, homecoming, success, and honor. The associations with the Roman Empire through the tapestries and stoves would have signaled to guests that the residents identified with classical culture, Latin texts, and the grandeur of antiquity—and by extension, erudition.

The objects in this room are the oldest on the estate. Placing the oldest furniture where guests first entered the manor house expressed continuity, prosperity, and an owner with a long history. This can also be seen in manor houses in England and other countries. Hafslund’s history stretches far back. The first time Hafslund is mentioned in a document is 1344, then as the King’s estate, owned by Håkon VI. From that time until today, Hafslund’s ambitious owners have left their mark on Hafslund Manor. Welcome inside!

Woven tapestries, stoves, and floors

Woven tapestries, 17th-century from Brussels. Likely a pair from a larger series. The tapestries come from the same workshop. Beyond warming the room and dampening the acoustics, the motifs evoke both triumph and courtly reception. One side shows a Roman triumphal procession with a victorious general (emperor?) and the other a formal reception of presumably the same person. Purchased for Hafslund by Chairman Knut Engh at an auction in Stockholm around 1979–80.

Vestal Virgin stoves, a pair. Bærum Ironworks, marked 1817. Likely designed by Hans Michelsen (1789–1859). These were also sold as pure sculptures, and one of them stood white-painted in the garden before architect Arnstein Arneberg’s time. Today they are used for heating, converted to electric stoves by Arneberg. The Vestal Virgins were the closest one came to nuns in the Roman religious world and express modesty and virtue. Welcome! The Vestal Virgin stoves are excellent examples of Norwegian iron; Norwegian stoves were exported to the rest of Denmark-Norway. Bærums Verk was owned by the Anker family (who briefly owned Hafslund).

The floor in the vestibule is checkered and was reconstructed by Arneberg using tiles found in the garden, among other places. Similar tile floors are known from Oslo Ladegård. A famous painting of Norway’s wealthiest woman, Karen Toller, depicted at Ladegården with a similar floor, confirms this. Karen Toller was a cousin of Niels Werenskiold’s mother and the mother of his son-in-law, Fredrik Hausmann.

Furniture and fixtures

Originally an old dining table from the 1600s, but used here for decoration. In the Dutch style that became popular in Russia after Peter the Great’s stay in the Netherlands. Provenance: Shipping magnate Ragnar Moltzau Sr.’s collection.

Leather-covered and iron-bound, approx. 1700. The leather was to keep moisture out, the iron to protect the contents and secure against theft.

The table can be associated with the Elieson family’s coat of arms. Anna and Peter Elieson were the couple responsible for the construction of the house as it stands today. The tabletop is secondary, but the table is Régence, richly decorated and carved in Norway. A similar one can be found in Det Norske Selskab. This type of table is known from high-bourgeois circles in Norway. Provenance: Shipping magnate Ragnar Moltzau Sr.’s collection.

Silvered wood from the late 1600s, Denmark.

2 Régence chairs from 1720–1750

6 Régence chairs from 1740–1760

These chairs beautifully express the transition toward Rococo with more curved shapes and shells, yet they remain strictly symmetrical.

Late 1600s, Northern European. For a final glance before the guests arrive.

Baroque style from the late 1800s. Originally not made for electric light.

Two pairs of monumental altar candlesticks. Brass, 17th century. Likely from Holland.