Charming Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom AB Vintage Swedish Barbro Sprinchorn Kilim “Vindruvor” (Grapes) Signed “S”, Country of origin: Scandinavia, Circa date: Vintage Mid Century Modern – This beautiful and extremely colorful tapestry rug depicts a mid century modern design style esthetic of grand harvest of grapes and the celebratory nature of a great vineyard harvest. More than a dozen colors are woven into this piece to create a very festive small vintage kilim rug / tapestry. Vintage rugs and artistic tapestries such as this fit well with most seasonal decor, although they can, and probably should, be displayed all year long.
Signs of a background color peep through the top colors, creating depth and movement. Some of the grapes are darker in color with a lighter color peeking through while the grapevines and vine leaves hint at harvest colors and have lines and shades of brown, yellow, orange, gold, and green peeking through. Only true textile artists like Barbro Sprinchorn and the iconic fiber artist Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom can create such a phenomenal layering of textile fibers and colors to creating the visual natural layers of an actual grapevine with bunches of grapes.
Tendrils of the vines are represented by white curled figures. These white tendrils help balance the bold and dominant colors of the rest of the tapestry while simultaneously bringing your eyes in from the sides of the piece. Alternating figures of leaves coincide with how grapevine leaves grow naturally, leaving you with a very organic sense of design.
The weave is neat and tight. Small overlay stitching typical of this artist’s works still remain, although this is some of her later work. It’s used sparingly as an accent in a few areas where an additional woven color might not have been possible due to the nature of the warp and weft style.
The small size of this tapestry textile from Scandinavia makes it a very convenient piece to display. Swedish rugs or weavings like this can serve as captivating area rugs and accent pieces within your home decor. That said, examples like this could, without a doubt, serve as captivating textile fiber art pieces for the wall. Have fun and enjoy that many possibilities for effective display of this masterful work.
