Items Similar to Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Salerno' Carpet

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Salerno' Carpet

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Snäckorna' Carpet

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Tånga' Carpet

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Kryddnejlikan' Carpet

Barbro Nilsson for Märta Måås-Fjetterström "Enbär" Juniper Berry Swedish Carpet

Barbro Nilsson Carpet ‘Strålblomman Röd’ Produced by Märta Måås-Fjetterström AB

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 11

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström 'Salerno' Carpet

About the Item

Barbro Nilsson for AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström, carpet, model ‘Salerno’, wool on linen warp, Sweden, design 1948 Exceptional hand-woven, blue-toned carpet designed by the celebrated Swedish textile designer Barbro Nilsson in 1948. The Salerno rug was specially commissioned to honor a tragic incident. In 1947, a cargo plane crashed near Scala, a small town located north of the historic city of Salerno in Italy's Monti Latteri region. The aircraft carried twenty-five Swedish Air Force pilots, and despite the valiant efforts of Italian locals, only four of them managed to survive. The Swedish Government commissioned the MMF workshop to create a commemorative rug, which would be presented as a gift to the chapel of the hospital in Scala, where the survivors received medical care. This particular piece was woven from blue wool, accented by brown sections. Within the vertical pattern details of the rug, one can discern hints of brown, blue, and yellow. These elements symbolize small airplanes, while the triangular sections evoke Italy's mountains. The blue hues in the rug represent the sea. These motifs, coupled with the serene composition and subtle colors of the carpet, transform this national tragedy into something profoundly touching and beautiful. As with all her designs, Nilsson wove her initials ‘B N’ and AB MMF (meaning AB Märta Måås-Fjetterström) at the edge of the carpet. Barbro Nilsson (1889- 1983), née Lundberg, was a Swedish textile designer from Malmö, Sweden. In 1904 her family moved to Stockholm where her father, Carl T. Lundberg, was the manager of the department store ‘Nordiska Kompaniet’(NK). At the age of fourteen, Nilsson started her education in weaving and textile design at the Brunssons Vävskola that was founded by Johanna Brunsson in 1843. Nilsson continued her education at the ‘Tekniska Skolan’ (technical academy) in Stockholm where she enriched her skills in weaving even further. In 1928 she married to the sculptor Robert Nilsson (1894-1980) with whom she collaborated with on numerous of tapestries. Barbro Nilsson excelled in combining color and form, and her creative combinations and different weaving techniques makes her work unique among other Scandinavian textile designers from the 20th century. She became the right hand to Swedish textile designer Märta Måås-Fjetterström (1873–1941), who founded a weaving studio Båstad in 1919. After Måås-Fjetterström passed away in 1942, Nilsson took over the leadership of the studio. Here she created new carpet patterns and experimented with different techniques such as the traditional Swedish hand-knotted ‘flossa’ technique in relief, flat weave and knotted-pile technique. Up until this day, the studio is widely recognized for its carpets and tapestries of remarkable skillful craftsmanship and designs of artistic and cultural value. Their approach to design and weaving is passed on from generation to generation. A team composed of well-educated weavers using the exact same techniques devised over 100 years ago. In 1983 Barbro Nilsson passed away and will be remembered as one of the most accomplished textile designers of the 20th century. Kindly take note that this item is in good, used condition with signs of age and use. For further details, we encourage you to reach out to our team of design specialists.

Creator:

Barbro Lundberg Nilsson (Designer),Märta Måås-Fjetterström (Manufacturer)

Dimensions:

Width: 149.22 in (379 cm)Length: 101.38 in (257.5 cm)

Style:

Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Linen,Wool

Place of Origin:

Sweden

Period:

1940-1949

Date of Manufacture:

after 1948

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftspeople in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.

Seller Location:

Waalwijk, NL

Reference Number:

Seller: 501121301stDibs: LU933136361712

View Invoice

Shop All Märta Måås-Fjetterström

Märta Måås-Fjetterström

Märta Måås-Fjetterström was the leading figure in Swedish textile design in the early 20th century. Through her rug-weaving studio, Måås-Fjetterström introduced a modern and cosmopolitan spirit to the tradition-bound craft, creating some of the era’s most sublime rugs and carpets — works that are elegant yet have a handmade warmth and honesty.

Måås-Fjetterström was the daughter of a small-town minister, and her creative bent led her to study drawing at the School of Industrial Arts in Stockholm between 1890 and 1895. She became an art teacher after graduating and began drafting textile designs in the late 1890s. At the time, Sweden was experiencing many of the same cultural concerns that fueled the English Arts and Crafts movement: fears that industrialization was causing many traditional handicrafts to wither into extinction. The state supported numerous artisan workshops, and Måås-Fjetterström was hired as director of a weaving studio in the southern city of Mälmo in 1905. She was dismissed six years later for insisting that artisans be allowed to create original patterns rather than merely copy old ones.

She traveled widely in search of design inspirations, and in 1919 — thanks in large part to the patronage of Ludvig Nobel, grand-nephew of Alfred Nobel, who commissioned her to make all the rugs for a new country manor hotel — Måås-Fjetterström opened her own workshop. There she trained many of Sweden’s best modern weavers, including Barbo Nilsson and Marianne Richter (the mid-century modernist designer Richter took over leadership of the Måås-Fjetterström factory after its founder's death in 1941). A major exhibition in Stockholm in 1934 brought public acclaim, a reputation secured worldwide by exhibitions at the British Museum in 1936 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1939. Måås-Fjetterström’s company, MMF AB, is still in operation, and most of her roughly 700 designs are available for fabrication.

A broad range of influences can be seen in Måås-Fjetterström’s designs, among them Art Nouveau and classic Near Eastern and Asian styles. Her rug patterns fall roughly into two groups: The first includes stylized floral and other naturalistic motifs as well as modernized folkloric themes. The second comprises those employing geometric “tiles” in a formal composition based on that of Persian rugs, with an intricate border surrounding a central medallion.

Måås-Fjetterström generally used a subtle color palette: Soft pastels predominate, punctuated by the odd vibrant note. Her rugs are remarkable for their flexibility of use in decor schemes. They are a perfect complement to simple modern furniture in both blond and darker finishes; at the same time, the rugs can act as a perfect calming foil to more ornate historical styles. Måås-Fjetterström's creations, particularly signed vintage pieces, are highly collectible. Her designs are found in the world's leading museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

Find a collection of vintage Märta Måås-Fjetterström rugs and carpets on 1stDibs.