Description

In one of Hälsingland’s most well-preserved farmhouses, we found the original of this plaid half-linen curtain from around the 1920s. The curtain is a typical exponent of the early 20th century industrial interest in Swedish design and Swedish folk tradition. The pattern, the colors and the fine yarn quality are all of the best rural tradition, but not the technique – that it is not handwoven, but woven by machine – is the new thing that the Swedish Crafts Association and other interest organizations worked for at the beginning of the century. With the help of machines, they wanted to simplify and spread the genuine Swedish folk culture to wider circles.

The original curtain hangs as a half-curtain (‘café curtain’) in a stencilled hall. It is equally likely to have existed simultaneously as long curtains in other homes, both in the country and in the city, as ‘allmoge’ was generally a popular style in all social settings in the early 20th century.

The facts
Half-linen. Width 85 cm. Cotton in warp, linen in weft. Checked in blue, rust red, black and white. Machine woven in Sweden for Gysinge. Shrinks about 5-7% in the first wash.

Washing instructions
Hand wash at about 40-50 degrees.

Sold only in whole meters.