Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Before coming to America, Aslak Lie achieved success in his native Norway as a skilled cabinetmaker, decorative painter and metalworker. In 1848 he became one of the pioneers of the Norwegian migration to Wisconsin. At the age of fifty, Lie relocated his family to the tiny Dane County community of Klevenville. In this enclave of Norwegian settlement, he continued to practice a wide array of craft skills. In 1870 he built this monumental cupboard that celebrated the marriage of two immigrants from Norway. The prominent inscription reads John Eriksen, Brithe Sjurs Datter Engesaethe. Aar 1870, which translates as “John, the son of Erik; Brithe, the daughter of Sjur; Engesaethe. The year 1870.”