Cotton, Bleached Hemp & Nettle
The surface presents an open, basket-like grid where pale, undyed strands cross a coarser, tan-toned thread, producing a subtle checkered rhythm across the field. No border or figural motif appears; the composition is left entirely to the texture of the weave itself, with a scalloped edge finishing one side. A close-up inset at lower right isolates the interlacing pattern, showing the alternating thickness and twist of the strands in sharper detail.
Tibetan Wool & Goat Hair
The field is left entirely open, an unbroken expanse of pale ivory that shows soft variations of tone across its surface. It is framed by a wide border of concentric stepped lines in a warm taupe-brown, each band offset slightly further from the next to create a nested, terraced effect. At each corner the stepped lines break into small stair-like diagonal notches, echoing the border's rhythm in miniature.
Initialed 'MHF ID' (Malmöhus Iäns Hemslöjdförening)
Signed 'KB' and 'KLH' (Kerstin Butler, Kristianstads Läns Hemslöjd)
Övre Hälsinglands Hemslöjdsförening is the handicraft society of upper Hälsingland, in Gävleborg county, and one of six local societies in that county belonging to the national federation of Swedish handicraft societies.
Hälsingland is linen country, and its societies were founded to keep the province's weaving alive as a working trade rather than a memory: commissioning from weavers in the district, running courses, and selling the results. Rugs woven for a society carry its initials, which is how a piece is placed to a particular province.
100% Cotton
Maximum width: 380 cm (12 ft 6 in)
