The Joy of Dance

 The Joy of Dance. Three ballerinas at Den røde lykte cabaret theatre portraited by the Oslo photographer Anders Beer Wilse in 1920. My colorization of a photo in the Norsk Folkemuseum archive (Digital Museum).

 

Ready for the garden party *1900)

 Ready for the garden party. Norwegian photographer Gustav Borgen´s (ab.) 1900 photo of Mr. and Mrs. Lundh. My colorization of the original in the Norsk Folkemuseum archive.

A Norwegian master baker and his family

The family of Norwegian master baker and business manager Olaf Andreas Jens Wilhelm Munthe (1851- 1914) and his wife Helene Andrea Støren (1857–1939), photographed in ab. 1905 - 1908 by the Oslo photographer Gustav Borgen.
One of the sons, Abraham Wilhelm Støren Munthe (1883–1965) became the head librarian of the University in Oslo. The daughter Lagertha Munthe (1888 – 1984) became a painter. The youngest daughter, Karen Munthe, died in 1920 at the age of 20.
Munthe is a Norwegian family which is believed to have its origin in Gent, Flanders. Ludvig Munthe - a resident of Lübeck, Germany - born ab. 1520 is counted as the first ever known member of the family. His son Ludvig, who was bishop of Bergen, became the founder of the Munthe family in Norway. (Another brother, Hans Munthe, became the founder of the Swedish branch of the family.)

Mademoiselle Ydette-Jolie (1906)

Mademoiselle Ydette-Jolie, Dancer. Photographed in 1906 in Oslo by Gustav Borgen (1865-1926). My colorization of an image in the Norsk Folkmuseum archive.

An early P&O cruise liner in Stockholm in 1905

S.S. Vectis at Christiania  (Oslo), water colour by William Lionel Wyllie
(sold  by Bonhams)

Cruising is nowadays an important part of the tourist industry, with hundreds of cruise liners plying the Seven Seas. The first years of the 20th century were still early days for cruises, but both German and British shipowners had already begun to see the vast possibilities pleasure voyages offered to them.

The first ship built exclusively for cruising was the Hamburg-America Line's  Prinzessin Victoria Luise, which was completed in 1900.

In 1904 P. & O. refitted its screw steamer Rome as a cruise liner (it had been built in 1881 for the Australian service) and renamed it Vectis. She took passengers on a variety of cruises, including Scandinavia and the Baltic.

The photograph below is from early September 1905, when Vectis visited Stockholm as part of her Baltic cruise.

The P & O cruise liner Vectis in Stockholm in 1905

The Vectis was sold to the French government in 1912, which intended to convert her to a hospital ship. For some reason this proposal did not proceed, and she was broken up the following year.

Ships in the Oslofjord in the 19th century

This 1890s etching, based on a painting by Hans Gude, shows marine traffic in the Oslofjord (or Christiania fjord as it was then called). This inlet in the south-east of Norway has been used by seafarers since early historical times. It was e.g. here that three of the best preserved Viking ships were found.