Ryijy is a

woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics are often created on a loom, and made of many threads woven on a warp and a weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to on ...

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

long-tufted tapestry or

knotted-pile carpet A knotted-pile carpet is a carpet containing raised surfaces, or piles, from the cut off ends of knots woven between the warp and weft. The Ghiordes/Turkish knot and the Senneh/Persian knot, typical of Anatolian carpets and Persian carpets, are ...

hanging. The name ryijy originated with the Scandinavian word rya, which means "thick cloth". The decorative ryijy rug is an art form unique to Finland. In the late 19th century, ryijy rug weaving developed as a

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

. Some of the most beautiful

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

were woven then. Ryijys date from as early as the 9th century. Similar in nature to a woolen knotted

Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( fa, فرش ایرانی, translit=farš-e irâni ) or Persian rug ( fa, قالی ایرانی, translit=qâli-ye irâni ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed January 30, 2007. also known as Iranian ...

, the ryijy knots are further apart and made much larger and longer. Originally woven for use as coverlets and bedding, they were mainly in natural colors, white, gray, and black. Some tones of yellow, red, green, and blue were introduced with

vegetable dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archaeo ...

s. Later, aniline dyes added another dimension of color and design. The use of color and pattern is especially unique to the Finnish ryijy. Dating back to the 18th century, a ryijy was often used as a

prayer rug A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians and some Baha'i during prayer. In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between the ground and the worshipper for cleanliness during the various ...

during wedding ceremonies; the tapestry was then hung for display in the couple's home. Ryijy weavers traveled with their

loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...

s throughout the villages and towns getting commissions to weave a ryijy for special occasions. Different regions had designs specific to the event and colors specific to the local plants for dyes. Designs were often

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

shapes and

floral A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

s, or figures of

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s, or

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s. A very typical motif was the

Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...

signifying family heritage. Modern ryijys in the 20th century are often works of art designed by textile artists such as

Laila Karttunen Leila ( fa, لیلا, ar, ليلى, he, לילה) is a feminine given name primarily in the Semitic (Arabic, Hebrew) and Iranian languages. In Latin alphabet the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Laela, Laelah, Laila, La ...

Greta Skogster Greta Skogster (from 1935 Skogster-Lehtinen; 1900–1994) was a Finnish textile artist, notable as the leading designer of the 1930-40s and a pioneer of modern textile design in Finland. Education After graduating from the Swedish-language seco ...

and

Kirsti Ilvessalo Kirsti Ilvessalo (after marriage, Kirsti Ilvessalo-Viljakainen; 25 May 1920 – 5 July 2019) was a Finnish textile artist, best known for her ryijy. She received awards at the Triennale di Milano (1951, 1954, 1960), and the Order of the Lion of F ...

. But also painters such as

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national ident ...

designed ryijys, one of the most famous is ''Liekki'' ('Flame').Gallen-Kallela Museum Site
They are mainly used in homes but also in churches and other public places. Ryijys are available for purchase as both material sets and ready-made. Companies have both traditional and modern designs available. A traditional large size piece costs about 500-700 EUR for the materials and 4000-5000 EUR if ready-made. Second-hand ryijys are also available, often from art and antique auction houses. The popularity of ryijys fluctuates with decades, and trendiness dictates the prices of pre-antique and second-hand modern items. Antique ryijy prices are more stable. Today ryijy-making techniques include new fibers such as

paper cord Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

, available in hundreds of colors, as is the traditional wool. They are designed for a multitude of places and purposes, but each is an individual work of art. Modern designs are often dithered with naturalistic abstract designs, contrasting with the sharp geometry and clearly separated colours of traditional designs .

References

Finnish culture Tapestries {{finland-stub