Collections at the Röhsska Museum of Design and Decorative Arts

	Collections
	The Röhsska Museum of Design and Decorative Arts has over 50 000 objects in its collections. (In addition, there is a comprehensive library containing 30 000 volumes and a large collection of exhibition catalogues.) The majority of the collection consists of old Swedish and European handicraft products, but also includes classical Greek and Roman artefacts, and material from Japan and China is well represented. The Museum did not start to collect contemporaneous craft work until about 1910. Not until the 1950's was a special department set up for contemporaneous craft industry, which was mainly of a retrospective nature. Another department was set up in conjunction with the Museum's Golden Jubilee, whose collections were intended to reflect the current situation in Sweden and the other Nordic counties, with the aid of a few examples from non-Nordic countries. The Museum's collections are not set up on a cultural history basis, i.e. to reflect their times. Instead, one of the main criteria for selection of objects has been high aesthetic and technical quality. These days, the Röhsska Museum mainly collects contemporaneous material in the categories of handicraft, commercial handicraft and industrial design. Mainly Swedish products, but Nordic products together with European and First World products which have been important for design are included in the collections.


	Tapestry with bird and ankh cross. 165 x 135 mm. Linen and wool yarn. Photo: Röhsska museet. From Marianne Erikson's book TEXTILES IN EGYPT 200 - 1500 A.D., in Swedish Museum Collections.		The textile collection is exhaustive and contains many different types of textiles: Egyptian cloth, Chinese silk, lace, Nordic home-spun cloth, embroidery, modern textile art etc. The Museum`s collection of textiles found in Egypt (2000 BC - 1400 AD), Chinese silk cloth, clothes and carpets, Bohuslän Finnish cloth, Nordic long pile rugs, knitted garments, samples and pattern drawings from Bohus Stickning (1939 - 69), artistic textiles from the 20:th century and modern printed cloth is among the finest in Sweden.
	The art book collection contains volumes from the mediaeval to the present day. Important items are two Italian renaissance volumes, two so-called Grolier volumes and a book bag dating from about 1300. The book collection also contains the Weigel printed book collection (10,000's of cuttings and loose pages from books from the 15:th - 19:th centuries) and the manuscript collection (manuscripts and illuminated pages, mostly mediaeval).		Photo: Röhsska museet.
	The print collection etc. contains artistic engravings from the 16:th - 19:th centuries. There are also collections of ex-libris, woodcuts for cabinet decoration, posters and hand drawings, including C W Carlberg's drawings for Gunnebo Mansion in Mölndal Municipality and his travel sketches.
	Netsuke in ivory. Signed Kogyoku. App 1800. Photo: Alf Bokgren, Röhsska museet.		The core of the far east collection consists of Chinese objects. The Museum also has objects from Japan, including "netsukes" - "buttons" shaped like small sculptures; "tsubas" - sword hilts and wood cuts. The material from Korea and South-east Asia mainly consists of ceramics.
			Iron Tsuba with gold details. From 18:th century Photo: Alf Bokgren, Röhsska museet.
	The most noteworthy section of the Metal collection consists of Falk Simon's donation of about eighty silver magnificent pieces, mostly mediaeval and renaissance. The Museum also contains a large collection of silver, mostly from the 17:th, 18:th and 20:th centuries. There are also smaller collections of wrought iron, cast iron, pewter, brass and bronze.		Diana in silver by Jacob Miller in Augsburg, Germany, app 1600. Photo:Röhsska museet.
	The furniture collection is extensive and consists of upper-class renaissance, baroque, rococo and new-classical furniture, including 18:th century furniture signed by French and Swedish masters, a few 19:th century pieces of furniture, some pieces from just after 1900 of very high quality, a large collection of 20:th century furniture, mostly chairs from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway plus a few from non-Nordic countries.
	Puzzle by Wilhelm Kåge, dated 1930. Photo: Alf Bokgren, Röhsska museet.		The ceramic collection is large, rich and highly varied: antique vases, Islamic ceramics, overseas faience, faience from Rörstrand and Marieberg, porcelain from the 18:th and 19:th centuries, modern ceramics, utility and handicraft ceramics. In addition, there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other Asian ceramics. There are also tiles, including 35 disassembled tile ovens and a lot of loose tiles.

	The glass collection is more or less evenly divided between old and modern glass. Some areas are well represented, such as modern Swedish glass from the "break-through" years around 1920-1930. The period from 1940 - 1970 is well represented, mostly Swedish glass. The collection from the 1970s and 1990s also includes unique glass pieces made by various glass works, so-called studio glass, some of which comes from the United Kingdom and the USA.
	The Röhsska Museum library The Röhsska Museum has a rich library of art, handicraft and design books, comprising about 30 000 volumes of books, exhibition catalogues, posters and journals. The library has been a central feature of the Museum since it opened in 1916. The library contains literature about furniture, ceramics, glass, silver and other metals and - of particular value - literature about architecture, Chinese and Japanese handicrafts and textiles. The library is made available by agreement following a telephone call. Telephone: +46 31-61 38 50 (reception), +46 31-61 10 00 (exchange) Telefax: +46 31-18 46 92 E-mail: info@designmuseum.se