By Marjo Ahonen

The technique of weaving rya is best suited to geometric decorative motifs. However, more complex patterns and plant motifs unknown to many rural weavers, such as tulips and acanthus, were also transformed into stylised patterns to the weaver’s liking. In the peasant weavers’ ryas, the plant motifs, the tree of life and the human figures are all simplified.

The edge patterns and stripes of the ryas

• Border stripes. Marked the central area or central pattern of the rya. The border stripes are narrow or wide; later several stripes were placed next to each other.

• Stripes, diagonal stripes. Oldest patterns in ryas. The stripes are either only on the border or as central patterns on the rya. They may also cover the entire surface of the rya.

• Checkerboards. Checkerboards were already used in mid-16th century castle ryas. The decorative patterns were probably adopted from other woven textiles of the time. The squares were possibly only on the edge, or they could pattern the entire rug.

• Grid patterns. An old pattern model from the Middle Ages, both straight and diagonal checkered. The grid pattern has developed from fabric binding patterns, various twill bindings. The grid patterns were first made in large squares, over time the squares became smaller. Small flowers and spots could be used as filling patterns in the eyes of the grid. In Finnish ryas, the grid pattern is a common center field decoration. Straight checkered rugs are common in the Satakunta region, slanted checkered ryas on the coast and Central Finland. Later, the different squares moved away from the center, to frame the edges. Square filling patterns such as flowers and rhombus patterns, i.e., dots and crosses, remained in the middle. The filling patterns were first in vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, later scattered.

• Zigzags. Zigzags are a typical Finnish pattern from the 17th century. They were first used to decorate wooden objects, from which they moved to ryas. Ryas have serrated stripes on both the central shield and the border.

• Flowing ornaments, vine and decorative stripe patterns. In ryas, flower vines go around the edges of ryas, either abundant and decorative or rigid and reduced. The acanthus leaf vine, a pattern from 17th-century fashion textiles, is the frame, for example, in the ryas of Southwest Finland (or Finland Proper) and Satakunta. In ryas of Kokemäenjokilaakso, flower vines line the middle field.

The patterns in the middle area of ryas

• Rhombus. “Rhombus” is a dot in the shape of a diagonal square. The rhombus shape is difficult to make with the rya technique, because the pile forms angular patterns. Cross-shaped small rhombuses are made with just a few pile tassels. In the final stage, diagonal check patterns typically form into a spotted pattern covering the entire surface of the rya. When the grid is no longer left, only loose rhombuses or smaller cross spots remain. 

• Cross. The cross pattern has appeared on shrouds and coffin covers since the Middle Ages, where the marks protected the deceased on the last journey. The cross pattern has also been used by priests, in so-called bishop’s ryas and church ryas, and later in bridal ryas. In the bridal rya, a cross and other symbols protected the married couple when being wedded on the rya, the same rya protected the wedding bed as a cover. The earliest ryas had one or more large crosses as the central design of the rya. Later, the cross became smaller and moved to the border. The cross also transformed into cross-shaped flowers. Large crosses were woven in Eastern Finland and in some places in Häme. In the Hämeenlinna region, there is a cross-shaped meandering stripe on the edges of the ryas.

• Dice patterns. Dice patterns have been used as filling patterns inside the grid pattern and as separate, individual patterns in the middle area of the rya.

• Tulip. The design is of noble origin and has been in fashion since the 17th century, when the tulip was a fashionable plant in Central Europe. The tulip model has been adopted from embroidered samplers, but the flower was still stylised and simplified a lot. The use of the tulip vine as a border decoration also came from the samplers. The oldest Finnish tulip ryas have a lamb’s black wool as a base color, in the 19th century the base color became lighter. Tulip rya is typical in Häme and most common in Satakunta. In Satakunta, the so-called the three-tulip pattern has been woven since the 18th century: in the middle of the vase, one large straight-stemmed tulip, on both sides of it meandering tulip plants with several flowers and leaves. There are also three tulips in the ryas of the Kokemäkijokilaakso, of which the middle one is dominant. Around Tampere and Hämeenlinna, two-tulip ryas, sometimes three-tulip, were woven. Some models have two tulips and only the stem of the third tulip in the middle.

• Palmette patterns. A decorative motif resembling a palm leaf was used from the beginning of the 19th century, the influences have come from upholstery fabrics and embroidered samplers. It is a pattern connected to the nobility, which has not been common in Finland, but has appeared e.g., in Satakunta. The palmette pattern is usually a fabric-like surface covering the central area, but sometimes it has also been used as a border pattern.

• Tree, sacred tree, tree of Life. An old ornament that is a metaphor for life. The tree pattern also belongs to ecclesiastical symbolism and appears, for example, in the story of the Fall of a Man, from which the so-called paradise rya was born. In ryas this model has been adopted stylised from samplers and pattern books. The tree pattern is common in the Kokemäenjoki area and Central Finland. The tree in ryas is usually straight-branched and narrow. The trees appear in pairs, as large main motifs or as filler patterns with others. The branches are slanted upwards. Usually, the end of the branch has a small pattern, a square or a cross-shaped star.

• Human figures. In ecclesiastical symbolism, the human figure is connected to the stories of the Bible, but the human figures have also come from samplers. A man in a knee-length outfit and a woman in a skirt are often depicted as a couple in wedding ryas. However, female figures are more common. The human figures are usually arranged symmetrically in the middle field. The process of making rya could be described as different patterns on rya itself. Many people in line often describe a circle dance.

• House, windmill. A house is a metaphor for a person themself, the idea of how they have found their place. Windmills are found in the meadows of the Hämeenkyrö region. Windmill patterns have gradually become reduced and simplified.

• Animals, bird, lion. The lion came from the castle ryas. The sheep in the bridal ryas depicted the bride’s dowry. The dogs originating from samplers are usually depicted naturalistically.  Also from samplers, the birds are depicted in several species such as roosters, chickens and forest birds. The rooster is the old folk’s teller of time.

• Crown, wreath. The crown comes from heraldry, it is a symbol of the king’s power. The bridal crown and wreath have signified the inviolability of the wearer. Initials are often placed below the crown; the layout comes from samplers. The crown later turned into a wreath.

• Cornucopia. The pattern came to rya from samplers at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, but it has been a popular decorative motif since ancient times. The cornucopia is a metaphor for life’s inexhaustible gifts and fertility.

• Roses, bouquets of flowers. Roses represent the Virgin Mary, love, rebirth and silence. Flowers are symbols of youth and vitality. The patterns for the ryas have come from cross-stitch patterns. Cross-stitch patterns were naturalistic already from the beginning of the 19th century. The rose ryas usually have scarlet roses on a black background in bouquets, vines or repeating patterns that cover the entire surface.

• Initials. Usually, the manufacturer’s initials are woven into the rya, but bridal ryas could have the initials of the bride or the wedding couple. The letter t or d after the name or initials means daughter or in Swedish “dotter”. Sometimes the initials of several people involved in the weaving could be woven into the rya. However, professional weavers did not sign their work.

• Year. The year rya was manufactured or the year the rya was remade. Bridal ryas usually feature the couple’s wedding anniversary year. 

• Spur wheel, stave cross, eight-pointed star. Different variations of the same pattern, which appear as symbols already in the classical period. The pattern appears on samplers in the middle of the 18th century. In the Längelmävesi region, there is a spur wheel in the middle of a rya, in the Tampere region, the spur wheels appear as stripes on the frame.

• The heart. The motif is very old, hearts have been used in the interior decoration of churches since the Middle Ages. Collection of hearts, known as “sydänsikermä” has probably changed from a cross motif. The heart is a metaphor for love, which is depicted singly, in pairs, in different groups, even with moustaches (initially a romantic, silk ribbon-decorated love heart that the weaver has seen and remembered). The heart motif is also common in wood carving.

• Hourglass. A metaphor for impermanence and the passing of time. The pattern appears in church and coffin ryas.

• Looped square or Saint John’s Arms. Originally a Christian symbol, which name comes from St. John. A decoration and a magic sign that brings good luck and that gives strength and love. The Saint John’s Arms has been used as a protective mark on various objects and textiles, e.g. in bridal ryas.

• Swastika, sun spinner. The sign expresses the sun, seasons, compass points, infinity. The svastika is a very old symbol of luck, as the earliest information about the use of the sign is approx. 2000 years B.C.

• Coats of arms, provincial coats of arms. In the Middle Ages, when ryas were woven in royal mansions for the use of the courts, the coat of arms of a gracious lord or a noble owner was knotted to them. The coats of arms were gradually reduced and began to resemble a shield, with perhaps a lion in the middle, the owner’s initials or a pattern resembling a four-paned window. In the 1950s, towns and municipalities acquired coats of arms for themselves, and these coats of arms also became textile patterns. In particular, the company Neovius Ltd. published in its collection ryas dedicated to different localities, on which coats of arms had been composed.

• Warp threads. The warp thread of the oldest folk-style ryas was hemp thread, which gradually changed to linen thread in the 19th century. The yarn material was grown and spun at home, so the warp threads of the old ryas were a little uneven in thickness. Folk-style ryas never had fringes but had hand-sewn hems at the top and bottom. 

• The colours of the pile yarns. The islanders’ boat ryas were woven in almost one color using the natural colors of sheep’s wool: white, black, gray and brown. When dyeing with Finnish plants, mostly yellow and brown-yellow colours were obtained with birch leaves, marsh teas and heathers. Red, blue and green colors were rarer. Since durable bright red and blue could not be obtained from native plants, they became the desired colors among peasant women for centuries.
  However, the tar trade made it possible to get indigo from the Mediterranean countries to Finland, and indigo blue became an important color – a luxury colour for ryas. Other imported dyes were caraway root, which gives a red color, and cochineal, which is an aphid that lives on cactus leaves, and also releases red dye. Red and green were popular colours in ryas at the beginning of the 18th century, and during the 18th century the reign of yellow gradually ended completely, when blue, red and green were adopted as the dominant colours of ryas.

November 2022

Marjo Ahonen is Curator at the Craft Museum of Finland, and is a great fan of their collection of ryas. Marjo was part of the team of authors that wrote Ryijy elää! Finnish ryas 1778-2008. (2008) and her co-written article on ryas was also published in RYIJY!: The Finnish Ryijy-Rug (Helsinki: Designmuseo, 2009). Craft Museum of Finland works in cooperation with the Design Museum to preserve the Finnish rya tradition.

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