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Scandinavia has a long and proud tradition of rug-making on par with many of the regions of the world that are perhaps more immediately associated with the craft—regions such as Persia and China. Rugs have been hand-made by craftspeople in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden for centuries, and have often played important cultural roles in each of these countries. Contemporary Scandinavian rugs—most especially Swedish rugs—are among the most sought after rugs in the world today, largely due to the contributions of designers like Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom. The story of Scandinavian rugs is a vital chapter in the cultural study of Scandinavia, as it reveals a great deal bout the aesthetic and social conventions of that region. == History == The history of rug-making in Scandinavia is complex. Indeed, the history of how artisanal rug-making became a cultural institution throughout Scandinavia is very much the history of how the craft spread throughout the whole of Europe, from its origins as a traditional Eastern art form. Indeed, the rug-makers of Scandinavia – like many of their other European counterparts – were heavily influenced by the aesthetics as well as the manufacturing techniques of the rug-makers of Anatolia and Asia Minor, with whom the Scandinavians of the Early Middle Ages had considerable contact via international trade routes. By the tenth century of the Common Era, Scandinavians were trading extensively with the Byazntine Empire in Constantinople, creating a considerable interest in fine rugs throughout Scandinavia.〔World Textiles: A Concise History (World of Art)〕 Between the right and twelfth centuries of the Common Era, a large preponderance of traditionally made Byzantine rugs were brought into Northern Europe – including into the Scandinavian Kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.〔http://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/vintage/swedish/〕 Because of the harsh climate of these countries, which frequently experience the coldest and bitterest winters anywhere on Earth, the expertly crafted rugs of the Byzantines fit right in: the best Byzantine rugs were often hung in stately homes for insulation purposes, and were frequently used as blankets by Scandinavian noblemen.〔http://artiesa.com/origins/scandinavian-rugs/〕〔 For a long time, it was this arrangement that dominated in Scandinavia: Oriental rugs were brought in from the Eastern Empire into Scandinavia, with very few original pieces actually being woven in Scandinavia. However, after centuries of exposure to fine Oriental rugs, the people of Scandinavia began to develop their own distinct style of artisanal rug-making. By the fourteenth century, Scandinavians had developed the art of the Rya (or Ryijy).〔http://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/vintage/swedish/〕 These distinctive rugs represented a new development in the art form that told the story of the artisans responsible for them: unlike the Oriental rugs of the Eastern Empire to which the Scandinavians had become accustomed, Ryas were made thick with shaggy, long pile: these rugs were specifically engineered to help the Scandinavian people weather their notoriously harsh winters. Soon after their development, Ryas were everywhere in Middle Ages Scandinavia, often replacing traditional Oriental rugs as well as cloaks and blankets. Splendid examples of this sort of tug have been found at archaeological excavations of old Viking settlements, most notably in York, England.〔 In addition to serving as wall coverings and blankets for noblemen and commoners alike, traditional Ryas were also used in marriage ceremonies throughout Scandinavia, throughout the Middle Ages. Ryas woven for such occasions are very distinct pieces, often featuring the initials of the bride and the groom; the date of the wedding ceremony; a set of double hears; and symbols and signs that represented the groom’s and the bride’s family. Wedding Ryas were extremely important, and perhaps represent the most distinct development in Scandinavian rug-making.〔SWEDISH TEXTILE ART: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Swedish Textile Art) ()〕 Indeed, even as the Scandinavian rug-making tradition matured from the 1500s through the 1800s, more traditionally Oriental themes were incorporated into the finest Scandinavian rugs, with the Tree of Life motif featuring most prominently: a standby in Persian rugs, the Tree of Life symbol was adapted by the rug-makers of Scandinavia to represent family trees and ties. By the 1880s, traditional Scandinavian rugs – and, most especially, Ryas – were hugely popular throughout Northern Europe. In addition, Sweden had begun to produce a very distinctive style of rug, the Rollakan. These pieces were generally flat-woven rugs bedecked with elaborate tapestry art, making them very distinctive from the generally abstract, thick-piled Ryas – even as they were used for similar purposes. From humble beginnings, the craft of rug-making in Scandinavia had blossomed into a complex art form with various outlets for craftspeople to explore. And though Rya rugs did in fact fall out of favorability with the nobles of Scandinavia and were subsequently relegated to the domain of folk art, there was a massive explosion in the popularity of the traditional Rya rug in the middle years of the twentieth century – a phenomenon that continues on today. Ryas had been made with abstract, geometric designs for centuries, and had always been made with thick shaggy pile. This design style was particularly appealing to the modernist designers of mid-twentieth-century Europe and North America, who felt that shaggy, colorful carpets worked well to offset the harsher and colder design elements that dominated their own aesthetic: in a home with many straight lines, hard woods and metals, the soft and colorful design style of Rya rugs gave a sense of warmth and color that often worked to create a homier house. Designers as influential as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ray Eames and Le Corbusier were all known to enjoy the effect of a traditional Scandinavian rug. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Scandinavian rugs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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