The Textile Collection
A few of the first textiles that came to the Ostrobothnian museum’s collection of textiles in 1895 are linen yarn spun by queen Lovisa Ulrika during the 1756 Diet and a man’s outfit, which includes a coat, a waistcoat, pants, a hat, mittens, shoes, and a backpack. The whole outfit is made of birch bark. The collection has increased by collecting and by donations. Today, it is an extensive and valuable collection consisting of approximately 10 300 textiles.
The collection contains traditional textiles from both the countryside and the higher social classes. In addition, the collection contains textiles from Karl Hedman’s personal collection, for example a brass crown, oriental rugs, table cloths, wool and silk scarves, designer scarves, sofa cushions, and rya rugs.
A special textile group is formed by multicolor crocheting and knitting that are particular to the Ostrobothnia region. The collection contains items such as women’s, men’s and children’s caps, mittens with and without the thumb, tobacco pouches, pocketbooks, and sleigh covers. The multicolor crocheting and knitting have been used in Ostrobothnia to make the special Korsnäs-sweater. In the museum’s collection there are 7 of these kinds of sweaters. The Korsnäs-sweater and the Jussi-sweater are traditional sweaters and their cultural meaning is discussed in Marketta Luutonen’s doctoral thesis, which has been published in 1997 at the University of Helsinki.
A traditional women’s outfit was bought in the 1930’s from Tiukka. The purchase contains all of the clothing items that a woman used during her lifetime. It contains an everyday dress, a celebration dress, a black dress, and a nightgown. In addition, it contains different kinds of mittens, scarves, shawls, and under garment. The purchase consists of approximately 40 items.
Hides and woolen covers that were the most valued of peasant’s bed textiles have been collected from the countryside since the beginning of the 20th century. Amongst these items there are several rarities.
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