1300–1500
FRIEZE AND BROADCLOTH Frieze was a domestic milled woollen fabric for outdoor clothing and everyday wear for the peasants. It was made in both coarse and very thin varieties. Broadcloth was a generic term for imported woollen fabrics, which were thin, close and milled...
1500-1600
INFLUENCES FROM ABROAD Renaissance architecture came to Finland through the court of Duke Johan, governor of Finland from 1556 to1563 and building works at the Turku Castle, where German carpenters and decorators panelled the walls and roofs of the castle. Woven wall...
1600-1700
KNITTING The craft of knitting with needles came to Finland presumably from Central Europe at the beginning of the century. Mostly socks, mittens and jerseys were made in this technique. The knitting of socks became an important livelihood in Naantali and in the whole...
1700–1750
THE CRAFTS GUILDS The craftsman began his career at the age of 13 or 14, when he would enrol as an apprentice with a master craftsman. The journeyman stage, which came next, required a certain degree of acquired skill and an approved apprentice's examination.The...
1750–1800
THE RYA WEAVES The most flourishing and productive period of vernacular rya weaves was from the close of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century. The rya (Fi. ryijy) was already used in the Bronze Age in the Nordic countries as a cover in boats. It became a...
1800–1840
THE KARELIAN HAND TOWEL Among the Greek-Orthodox Karelians valuable items of the household included a long, narrow towel or cloth known as the käspaikka. They were used as hand towels at a place by the door where one washed one's hands, and also spread on the laps of...
1840–1870
EMBROIDERY Handicraft skills were expected of all girls and young women from the age around ten onwards, regardless of class or birth. A middle-class girl had to demonstrate her skills and ability to be a housewife. Before making the actual trousseau, young women...
1870–1900
THE FRIENDS OF FINNISH HANDICRAFT SOCIETY The painter Fanny Churberg established the Friends of Finnish Handicraft Society in 1879 "to promote Finnish handicrafts and to develop them in a patriotic and artistic direction". In the 1880s Churberg created a Finnish style...
1900–1920
THE ”FLAME” RYA The Friends of Finnish Handicraft and the Iris factory of Porvoo created the interior design of a room in the Finnish pavilion at the Paris World Fair of 1900. The artist Axel Gallén designed the Liekki (Flame) rya for the exhibition. This design can...
1920–1970
MANUALS AND DESIGNS Several dozens handicrafts manuals and series of designs and patterns were published from the 1910s to the 1930s in response to a shortage of teaching materials. Photo: Suomen käsityön museo / Sami Kulju THE SCARF Hand-woven garment fabrics lost...
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