~ OUR LATEST BOOK - JUST RELEASED ~

Mangle Boards of Northern Europe
Now, FREE shipping to anywhere in the United States!

Mangle Boards of Northern Europe

Mangle Boards of Northern Europe
A Definitive Guide to the Geographic
Origins of Mangle Boards

Streamlined Irons

Streamlined Irons
A Splendid Tour of Commercial Design

Mangle Boards of Northern Europe is an unprecedented window into the world of mangle boards, wooden implements used from the 16th to 20th centuries for smoothing linen. Handcrafted, they reflect the work of both skilled carvers, trained in the classic styles of their times, and naïve carvers, unschooled in woodcarving and academic visual traditions.

The 267 mangle boards in this book were drawn from national and regional museums in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark; regional museums in Germany and the Netherlands; and private collections. Each museum or collection granted the author access to examine its mangle boards—a total of nearly 7,000.

Author Jay Raymond closely studied the boards for their aesthetic characteristics. As a student and later a teacher at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, he acquired and practiced its disciplined approach to the study of art and art objects. Through his examination of the mangle boards, he established a set of visual characteristics common to those typical of each country. Raymond’s new and invaluable insights are described and illuminated in detail.

The large format and photographs permit the beauty and sumptuous nature of the mangle boards to be indelibly impressed upon the reader, who will end the journey through this book with nuanced and keen appreciation for these works of folk art.

this book is an opportunity for us to feel the life of mostly common people, whose lives are not in the history book and are lost to us except in this way

From the Preface: "...this book is an opportunity for us to feel the life of mostly common people, whose lives are not in the history book and are lost to us except in this way."

17th and 18th century boards from the Netherlands

17th and 18th century mangelplanken from the Netherlands.

18th and 19th century boards from Finland

18th and 19th century kaulauslaudat from Finland.

18th and 19th century boards from Sweden

18th and 19th century mangelbräden from Sweden.

Icelandic Trafakefli

Icelandic Trafakefli

Norwegian Mangletre

Norwegian Mangletre

German Mangelbretter

German Mangelbretter

19th century Danish mangle board

19th century Danish mangbræt.