Lot Essay
This wonderfully idiosyncratic röllaken was almost certainly woven as part of a young bride's dowry and would have been used as a bedcover or wall hanging. The design is typical of the covers woven in the Gärds or Villands district of North East Scania, and relates closely to an example illustrated in Viveka Hansen, Swedish Textile Art, Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania, The Khalili Collection: Volume I, London, pl.48, pp129-131. The cover illustrated in Hansen is much plainer in its ornamentation and demonstrates how the traditional format of adjoining octagons allowed the weaver great freedom to insert their own designs and motifs.
The present example has some beautifully drawn details within the octagons, which include what appears to be a commentary on marriage with a series of alternating groups of men and women smiling and frowning (a detail of which is illustrated above the Index on pp.156-157 of this catalogue). A number of these intricate motifs, such as the trotting horses and the keys hanging from each of the mens' belts, suggest the hand of the only professional Swedish female weaver to have been identified, Bengta Oredsdotter or Bengta Arman as she is also known. The dating of the cover to 1861 would put the cover right at the very end of Arman's known production but it is possible that it was woven by her or at the very least someone imitating her style. For further discussion of Arman's weaving please see Hansen, op.cit., pp.42-46. A röllaken of related design was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2008, lot 34.
The present example has some beautifully drawn details within the octagons, which include what appears to be a commentary on marriage with a series of alternating groups of men and women smiling and frowning (a detail of which is illustrated above the Index on pp.156-157 of this catalogue). A number of these intricate motifs, such as the trotting horses and the keys hanging from each of the mens' belts, suggest the hand of the only professional Swedish female weaver to have been identified, Bengta Oredsdotter or Bengta Arman as she is also known. The dating of the cover to 1861 would put the cover right at the very end of Arman's known production but it is possible that it was woven by her or at the very least someone imitating her style. For further discussion of Arman's weaving please see Hansen, op.cit., pp.42-46. A röllaken of related design was sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2008, lot 34.