Carol Johnson has over 60 tapestries in her collection–some Swedish, some Norwegian, and a handful of Scandinavian-inspired American ones. Most are modest in size. Many of them were woven by novices, probably by women learning tapestry techniques during a resurgence of textile interest in the 1950s-1970s.  One piece is undisputedly a learner piece…

…Because here’s the Swedish book with the pattern!  Flamskvävnad: Flemish Weaving, by Ernst Fischer and Gertrud Ingers (Västeros: ICA Förlaget, 1961).

Pieces in the collection represent many popular traditional images. She has two small tapestries of a man and woman surrounded by a floral border.  It’s a segment of a well-known Swedish tapestry cushion pattern, “The Engagement.”

The pattern for this weaving is found in Flemish Weaving: A Guide to Tapestry Technique, by Gertrude Ingers (NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1971, originally published in Swedish, 1967). It is a portion of a image that was popular during the height of Swedish flamsk weaving in southern Sweden, from around 1750-1850.  

Flamsk means Flemish, meaning a type of tapestry based on continental styles.  In Sweden the weaving techniques and the images were simplified and, similar to Norwegian billedvev (tapestry), used dovetail techniques to avoid slits.

Vivecke Hansen, a Swedish author and expert on flamskväv and other Scanian weaving techniques, posted a photo of a cushion with a more elaborate background, woven in the 1800s. (“Historical Reproductions–18th and 19th Century Dove-Tail Tapestry.” Textilis, No. XXXIX, May 22, 2015) 

Sometimes scanning images in the Swedish DigitaltMuseum turns up patterns similar to those in Carol’s collection. This relatively modern flamsk weaving was dated 1960-1980. It is a common floral pattern with a bouquet of flowers flanked by two parrots, surrounded by a wreath, on a background of flowers. 

In Carol’s tapestry, which may be older, guessing from the condition, the red urn switches to one festively adorned with zigzags. So many of the individual pattern elements are the same shapes in both tapestries, but vary in execution. For example, look at how the parrots were woven in the two pieces. 

Another popular Swedish flamsk pattern is the red lion surrounded by a laurel wreath and on a background of flowers. Over 70 tapestries with the lion image still exist from the historical 1750-1850 time period. Here is the example owned by Carol, woven in the 20th century. 

Carol’s collection of weaving in tapestry techniques includes several pieces in square weave, with designs built geometrically.  Swedish pieces, called rölakan, use a double-interlock technique. This photo shows the back of a rölakan with the characteristic rows of raised edges where the colors join and interlock.  This photo also show how older pieces can be quite faded on the front, with the richest colors–sadly–evident only on the back. 

Carol’s collection includes two rölakan versions of the Swedish Bäckahäst, the river or sea horse, another popular Swedish tapestry image. This mythological creature was thought to lure people to ride on their backs and then plunge into the river. Although I thought this was a dragon-like creature spouting fire, I have seen a few references to a lily in the mouth of the horse.

Another find from the Swedish Digitalt Museum was this hand-colored photograph of a historical textile with similarities to one in Carol’s collection. It is part of a collection of 120,000 photographs by Lilli Zickerman, posted by the Svenska Hemslöjdsförening  (The Swedish Handcraft Association). Lilli Zickerman undertook a massive inventory of Swedish folk textiles between 1910-1932.  

This piece in Carol’s collection reproduces many of the abstracted flowers of the larger historical piece. In the center of both pieces, note the modern-looking abstracted lilies of the valley.

This Swedish rölakan, woven at a fine sett with thin yarn, features birds and stars. 

 

Here is a Norwegian piece at a larger scale. In Norway the geometric tapestry technique is called rutevev.

Although double-interlock square-weave pieces are found in Norway, single interlock is more usual. With that technique, once the loose threads are woven in, the back is as beautiful as the front, and the weaving is reversible. We would guess this is a Norwegian rutevev because the back is as lovely as the front, but there is also a label.

Traditionally, larger Norwegian square-weave pieces were woven with thicker yarn at a wider sett than Swedish square-weave tapestries, probably because they were woven as utilitarian coverlets.  In Sweden the square-weave technique was more commonly used for decorative textiles, with more complex patterns in finer threads. 

The next two single interlock rutevev hangings are likely from patterns by noted Norwegian designer Else Poulsson, who worked in a variety of textile techniques. Poulsson was the head of Den Norske Husflidsforening (the National Handcraft Association) for 25 years, beginning in 1929. While her abstracted patterns were sometimes compared to spare patterns of German Bauhaus designs, her images focused on Norwegian culture; rural people in traditional costumes were frequent subjects. 

A similar horse and rider design is found in an entry about Else Poulsson in the Store Norske Leksikon (Large Norwegian Encyclopedia). 

Carol Johnson’s collection includes the head of a figure in the famous Norwegian Baldishol Tapestry, the most spectacular historical Norwegian tapestry, dated from the mid-1100s. It is woven in billedvev (literally, picture-weaving), the Norwegian tapestry technique that employs decorative joins and avoids long slits. Norwegian billedvev is also characterized by areas of solid color with little hatching. 

It’s one of the few pieces in the collection with initials and the date of completion on the back, “S.H. 14/7 1966.” 

A cartoon for this weaving is included on the Swedish Digital Museum site, from the collection of Vänersborgs museum. (Full record here. The record says it is from Johanna Brunssons Vävskola (a weaving school). 

Clearly this cartoon has been woven many times.  Ulrikka Mokdad from Copenhagen wrote, “Baldisholmanden – I remember 26 years ago when I was taking classes at The Weavers’ Guild, we would choose between several details from the Baldishol tapestries at the end of course one. I chose the face of the April man .” Another Danish Facebook reader wrote that she had inherited the same piece from her great-aunt, and assumed it had been a weaving school assignment. 

If you were hunting for the most iconic image of medieval Norwegian billedvev, you would have to find an image of the wise and foolish virgins.  As expected, Carol has one–this weaver only wove the five wise ones.  

In the early 1900s the Handcraft Associations in Norway (Husfliden) and Sweden (Hemslöjden), in an attempt to revive traditional handcrafts, sold weaving patterns based on historical pieces.  This billedvev piece in Carol’s collection was likely from a pattern from Husfliden in Norway.

This image is from a medieval cushion cover is in a set of books by Henrik Grosch.

Carol Johnson’s tapestries are tantalizing puzzles.  They came with little background–perhaps they were sold off from a relative’s stash or were flea market finds for the sellers. They are woven with care in a time-consuming process.  Who made them? Where did they get the patterns? When did they fade from fashion or lose meaning for the weaver or her family?  As the title states, this article only dips into Carol Johnson’t tapestry treasures. 

Fans of Scandinavian tapestry can look forward to an exhibit of Carol Johnson’s collection at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota in early 2019.  Here is a GALLERY of many of the pieces.  If you have knowledge of the designers or other background about them, let me know.  

Robbie LaFleur
lafleur1801@me.com