Rugs/Woven textiles

Both rugs and woven textiles are produced entirely by hand in our studio in Båstad. Since 1919 Märta Måås-Fjetterström's designs and instructions have been handed down from generation to generation at the studio and, in the hands of the expert weavers of today, they are still transformed into works of the highest imaginable artistic and craft quality. When Märta Måås-Fjetterström died in 1941 she left to posterity some 700 designs, with detailed instructions for their manufacture, using a range of different techniques. Today MMF AB also owns hundreds of designs by other artists including Barbro Nilsson, Marianne Richter, Ann-Mari Forsberg, Barbro Sprinchorn and Kaisa Melanton. They form an invaluable treasure store for the firm to bring to life in newly manufactured items. Also at the MMF premises are miniatures of our Textile of the Year (since 2002), which is only produced, in a single unique version. At the studio in Båstad there is a representative selection of rugs for immediate purchase. Prospective customers are always welcome to consult our expert staff who will advise on appropriate colour schemes, dimensions and patterns.

The weaving rooms

At the studio there are currently 15 specially built looms, of which the largest can produce rugs up to 4,2metres in width in a single piece. The looms are sited on three floors of our Båstad premises. You can imagine the "thunking" noises and the power that is unleashed when the looms are in use!

The dyeing laboratory/workshop

Since 2006 we have had our own dyeing laboratory and workshop in the basement of the MMF premises. Formerly all our dyeing needs were supplied by Klippans Yllefabrik but when they moved their business to Latvia we decided to undertake the dyeing ourselves. We wanted to preserve and hand on the expert knowledge of wool-dyeing and we wanted to ensure that the unique collection of recipes built up by Märta Måås and Barbro Nilsson would be preserved. We have had access to the vast expertise of the dyeing manager at Klippans Yllefabrik and all the yarns used on our premises are now dyed by our own staff. We currently have 8 tons of woollen yarns in store in a total of 1074 colours!

The Company

It was in 1919 that Märta Måås-Fjetterström started her textiles workshop in the little town of Båstad, in the southwest of Sweden. She created designs for rugs and furnishing fabrics which were then woven at home by local women. Her most important source of inspiration was the Swedish countryside with its profusion of wild flowers and animals. It was not until Märta Måås-Fjetterström was more than sixty years old – in 1934 – that she achieved a definitive breakthrough at an exhibition at the civic gallery, known as Liljevalchs konsthall, in Stockholm. Two years later, in 1936 her designs were shown at the British Museum in London and in 1939 she exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. When Märta Måås-Fjetterström died in 1941, a group of people interested in the arts took steps to ensure that the workshop survived. The group consisted of the director of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (Sweden's national art museum), Carl Malmsten (who remains famous for his handcrafted furniture), Eric Wennerholm (a leading Stockholm lawyer) King Gustav V and the then crown prince who was to become Gustav VI Adolf. They chose Barbro Nilsson, a reputed textile artist, to carry on the work in Båstad. She continued to manage the firm until 1970. Märta Måås-Fjetterström AB has been owned by Ulrik Swedrup since 2001. Angelica Persson became managing director of the company in the same year and an artistic advisory committee (MMF:s konstråd) was also formed. Each year the committee selects a design by a Swedish textile artist to be manufactured at the studio in a single copy.