Autumn Bumper including the Karl Johansen Treen Collection

Treen

The word treen comes from the Old English word ‘treowen’ meaning of wood and it is the term for small wooden objects used in everyday domestic, craft, rural, trade and professional settings as well as in ceremonial activities. Treen objects often have regional characteristics and even though many objects are functional, they were often decorated as though they are aesthetic objects to be enjoyed. The decoration can often be a clue to its country or regional origin. Collectors of treen are inspired by the craftmanship that each object represents and how objects convey social history. Treen values vary according to rarity of the object, the type of wood used, the age and critically the richness of patina.   

Karl Johansen (1937-2021)

I was very pleased to call the late Karl Johansen a client and someone who I had got to know over the years as a buyer and a seller. Karl had an encyclopedic knowledge of treen and on the occasions that I met Karl at the saleroom, I would invariably learn something new about this fascinating subject.

It was clear from our conversations, that Karl had amassed a significant collection. However, it wasn’t until I visited the family home in the summer of 2024 that I understood the scale involved. There were items in every room of the not-unsubstantial Cardiff home. Fortunately, and not wholly unexpectedly - bearing in mind the character of Karl, everything was highly organised with better items on display in groups on bespoke shelving, while other items stored neatly away in labelled containers. But there was treen everywhere, in cupboards, drawers and on display in every room.

Collecting treen had been Karl’s passion for over four decades. The interest had been sparked as a child when he studied his grandfather, a sea-captain from the days of full-rigged ships, carving a pine model yacht. Watching his grandfather inspired Karl to buy his first treen object – a fid (which to those who don’t know is a conical pin shaped tool used to splice rope). A life-long passion was launched.

With us all enslaved by mass production, cheaply laboured goods from overseas and plastic throwaways, Karl Johansen’s passion developed into a personal crusade. Karl wanted to do more than collect and display his collection at home, he wanted to educate. So, through numerous exhibitions and through show-and-tell discussions with various clubs and organisations, Karl was able to demonstrate his superior life-learnt knowledge and passion to many people. He was intent on demonstrating that everyday objects could be beautiful, could have character and could be unique in their form. Also, Karl wanted to show the public, especially children, that everyday problems can be solved through human ingenuity and craft rather than purchasing. But sourcing items took up a much greater time than showing, Karl’s daughter Susie recalls;

We were very proud to have been selected to represent the sale of Karl Johansen’s significant collection. The first tranche will be offered in a one-off auction which is now online for you to view. The remainder of the collection will be offered through sections in our Cardiff auctions in early 2025. 

We have enjoyed the cataloguing process immensely; it has been a learning experience helped considerably by Karl’s detailed notes which included his own hand drawn diagrams of many objects in the collection. This meticulous and organic method in documentation was very typical of Karl’s scientific character.

Please book your appointment now to see the Karl Johansen collection.