DOI issue:
No. 240 (March 1913)
DOI article:Branting, Agnes: Modern tapestry-work in Sweden
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21160#0128
Modem Swedish Tapestry
After the lapse of time such artistic work began
to be executed in the homes of the peasantry as
well, while at length it was the Swedish peasant
woman that, almost alone, preserved the traditions
of this ancient home-sloyd and carried them on to
our days, where now Swedish women of every class
of life meet in one common endeavour for the
advancement and ennoblement of textile sloyd
along artistic and national lines.
There are probably few countries in Europe that
can show such a variety of textile techniques as
Sweden, where every province with any charac-
teristic development of sloyd possesses, as a rule,
its own peculiar kinds of textile work. But the
chief among all our varieties of this kind of sloyd
is that called tapestry, and it is the modern develop-
ment of this art in Sweden of which we shall now
say a few words.
Tapestry is executed, as in the most ancient
times, by means of a hand-loom with a vertical
warp, through which the " pin," with the weft, is
thrown in such a way as to weave the pattern in
freehand technique, each colour being built up
" strata-fashion," i.e., resting on another colour.
The technique permits of the execution of free
lines, the introduction of different kinds of thread-
material, such as wool, linen, cotton, silk, gold,
and silver, and it also allows the design to be
carried out in a variety of colours. The worker
who executes the cartoons for this kind of weaving
is given a very free hand, and it is interesting to
see how artists in different ages and countries have
employed this technique in various ways.
Modern tapestry-work in Sweden is usually
reckoned as having begun about the year 1880.
The ancient form of the art had been chiefly pre-
served in the province of Scania (Skane), in the
south of Sweden, and it was here, about the time
mentioned, that the older peasant women, at the
request of the younger generation, began to instruct
the latter in this beautiful art. At first the ancient
specimens of tapestry were copied, the technical
processes of the art being thus learned. Those
readers of this magazine who may be interested
in the matter of these older tapestries are referred
to the autumn number of The Studio for 1910
(" Peasant Art in Sweden, &c"), where many re-
productions of such work are given. After 1890
tapestry-work in Sweden began to be executed after
cartoons drawn by some of our most skilful artists.
"the witch's lake." designed by nils lundstkom ; woven by thyra grafstrom (nordiska kompaniet)
i°5
After the lapse of time such artistic work began
to be executed in the homes of the peasantry as
well, while at length it was the Swedish peasant
woman that, almost alone, preserved the traditions
of this ancient home-sloyd and carried them on to
our days, where now Swedish women of every class
of life meet in one common endeavour for the
advancement and ennoblement of textile sloyd
along artistic and national lines.
There are probably few countries in Europe that
can show such a variety of textile techniques as
Sweden, where every province with any charac-
teristic development of sloyd possesses, as a rule,
its own peculiar kinds of textile work. But the
chief among all our varieties of this kind of sloyd
is that called tapestry, and it is the modern develop-
ment of this art in Sweden of which we shall now
say a few words.
Tapestry is executed, as in the most ancient
times, by means of a hand-loom with a vertical
warp, through which the " pin," with the weft, is
thrown in such a way as to weave the pattern in
freehand technique, each colour being built up
" strata-fashion," i.e., resting on another colour.
The technique permits of the execution of free
lines, the introduction of different kinds of thread-
material, such as wool, linen, cotton, silk, gold,
and silver, and it also allows the design to be
carried out in a variety of colours. The worker
who executes the cartoons for this kind of weaving
is given a very free hand, and it is interesting to
see how artists in different ages and countries have
employed this technique in various ways.
Modern tapestry-work in Sweden is usually
reckoned as having begun about the year 1880.
The ancient form of the art had been chiefly pre-
served in the province of Scania (Skane), in the
south of Sweden, and it was here, about the time
mentioned, that the older peasant women, at the
request of the younger generation, began to instruct
the latter in this beautiful art. At first the ancient
specimens of tapestry were copied, the technical
processes of the art being thus learned. Those
readers of this magazine who may be interested
in the matter of these older tapestries are referred
to the autumn number of The Studio for 1910
(" Peasant Art in Sweden, &c"), where many re-
productions of such work are given. After 1890
tapestry-work in Sweden began to be executed after
cartoons drawn by some of our most skilful artists.
"the witch's lake." designed by nils lundstkom ; woven by thyra grafstrom (nordiska kompaniet)
i°5