A kronkåsa (, plural ''kronkåsor'') is a form of elaborate drinking

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

that was used during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

in Sweden. A kronkåsa is a drinking vessel where the handles are exaggeratedly long and elaborate, thus forming a kind of crown above the cup, hence the name. The crown cups made during the Renaissance were carved from a single root of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

trees. Later copies from the 19th century were made using other types of wood. The drinking cups were probably used on special occasions where it was considered important to maintain significance of the family and its history.

History

Kronkåsor were used in Sweden during the Renaissance as a form of elaborate drinking vessel among the

Swedish nobility The Swedish nobility (, or , ) has historically been a legally or socially privileged Social class, class in Sweden, and part of the so-called ''frälse'' (a derivation from Old Swedish meaning ''free neck''). The archaic term for nobility, ''fr ...

. Although little is known of their origin, it has been suggested that they reflect an old tradition of elaborately carved wooden drinking vessels popular in Northern and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. The popularity of kronkåsor during the 16th century coincides with a breakthrough in the quality and popularity of wood carving as an art in general in Sweden. Magnificent kronkåsor have been commissioned during the reign of

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

. In

Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (born Olof Månsson; October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic clergyman. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his Swedish birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in Octo ...

's '' A Description of the Northern Peoples,'' he calls them "Finnish caps" and describes their use as a typically Finnish custom.

Anna Hogenskild Anna Klemetsdotter Hogenskild (1513–1590), also known as ''fru Anna till Åkerö'' ('lady Anna of Åkerö') and ''fru Anna till Hedensö'' ('lady Anna of Hedensö'), was a Swedish court official and landowner. She served as ''hovmästarinna'' to ...

, who made several cups and gave them to close relatives, owned a family estate in Nynäs which was in the eastern part of the Swedish realm, in an area north of Åbo (

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

). Scandinavian map by

depicts a kronkåsa precisely in this area. About 20 kronkåsor survive to this day, most of them preserved in museums. A number of boxes of this type are preserved in Swedish museums and largely originate from noble families. The oldest dated one is in

Museum of Gothenburg The Museum of Gothenburg () is a local history museum located in the city centre of Gothenburg in western Sweden. It is located in the East India House (), originally built as the Swedish East India Company offices in 1762. The city museum was e ...

and is from 1526. Many of them are intimately connected to the Bielke family who played a big role in making new cups. When the

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board (; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Culture. The goals of the agen ...

was created in 1630, its objective was to preserve ancient monuments and cultural heritage, including kronkåsor. During the Romantic Nationalism period, copies of these cups were popular, often with leaf-sawed decorations.

References

{{reflist Drinking culture Drinkware Culture of Sweden Renaissance art