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 and whose nap was cut at least once. Only licensed merchants could sell broadcloth, which was one of the main imported items in Finland in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to an old saying, “he who wears broadcloth lives in debt, but he who dons frieze has money in his pockets.”
Photo: Espoon kaupungin museon kuva-arkisto / Marliina Perkko
SERVANTS´ WAGES
Servants were paid partly in frieze, shirt and blouse linen and footwear, and sometimes in lambskin coats and hides. During the 15th century 3-5 pairs of single-soled shoes were given yearly to a servant, as well as 24 ells (1 ell = 59.4 cm) of frieze for smocks, trousers and jackets and 6 ells of linen for a shirt. Shown here are archaeological finds of band-tied shoes for a child and an adult from 15th-century Turku.
Photo: Turun maakuntamuseon kuva-arkisto / Janne Harjula.
ECCLESIASTICAL TEXTILES
The rules of the Birgittine convent in Naantali ordered the sisters to engage in crafts. The convent had an embroidery shop where, among other items, the border of the altar-cloth of Huittinen church was made in the late 15th century. This textile was embroidered throughout with silk, silver and gold thread.
Photo: Matti Ruotsalainen
OVERCAST STITCHING
The technique of overcast stichning spread into Karelia via Russia. It is one of the oldest Russian embroidery techniques, and was also popular in the crafts of Central European upper-class women.
Photo: Varpu-Leena Tirronen
MARRIED WOMAN’S HEADDRESS
In Karelia, Greek-Orthodox wives traditionally wore a piece of headgear known as the harakka or sorokka, with geometric designs on the forehead and neck parts. The model was adopted from the Russians. The embroidered patterns consisted of various cross, star, rosette, square and heart motifs and their variants. This item of headgear dates at least from the Middle Ages, as also a girl’s brow-band headpiece known as the säppäli with tin studs.
Photo: Suomen kansallismuseon kokoelmat / Kari Hakli
VAULTING
The skills of builders are evident in the vaulted masonry churches. Show here is vaulting from ParainenChurch (15th c.).
Photo: Kari Hakli
WROUGHT-IRON FITTINGS
It was customary to reinforce and embellish the doors of churches with decorative, wrought-iron fittings, as for instance in Hollola Church.
Photo: Museokuva
GOLDSMITHS
In 1371 Finland’s first goldsmith known by name worked in Turku, Petrus Aurifaber ( = goldsmith). Goldsmithing skills were needed for making ecclesiastical objects. It was decreed that chalices and patens had to be made of precious metal, or at least gilt on the inside. The Ejeby Chalice, Turku Cathedral, late 15th c.
Photo: P.O.Welin
WOODEN VESSELS AND COINTAINERS
The region of Uusikaupunki in Southwest Finland was a prominent centre for making wooden containers and stave vessels, often of aspen. The manufacture of stave vessels on a large scale was already organised on a serial basis in the 15th century. One craftsman made the bases (for tubs, casks, buckets, tankards etc.), while another made the staves, and a third made the hoops etc. The method of working simplified the forms and shapes of the vessels, reduced ornament and standardised sizes to permit the vessels to be stacked and piled. The local peasants took the vessels for sale to towns and cities along the Baltic in their own sailing boats and ships. The tradition of making wooden vessels and containers survived in the Uusikaupunki region until the 19th century.
Drawing: Suomen käsityön museo / Tuula Ollikainen