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Object Timeline

2006

  • We acquired this object.

2024

  • You found it!

Table Runner

This is a Table runner. It was manufactured by Woodnotes. We acquired it in 2006. Its medium is paper yarn and cotton and its technique is plain weave with grouped warps (8) and alternating single and paired wefts, lino weave on weft edges. It is a part of the Textiles department.

The original idea behind the Finnish design firm, Woodnotes, was to combine artistic creativity with inspiration from two basic Finnish materials: wood and paper. All of the products by Woodnotes utilize paper yarn that is spun from durable kraft paper. The amount of paper used in the textile varies between 70–100%, with cotton as the secondary fiber. Although the product line has grown over the years to include furniture, home accessories, carpets, blinds, partitions, and upholstery fabric, Woodnotes still holds true to its original idea of creating products from paper yarn.
Woodnotes was founded by Ritva and Mikko Puotila in 1987. Ritva is a noted Finnish textile artist who has received numerous awards for her work as designer and textile artist. Prior to co-founding Woodnotes, she worked as a textile designer for Tampella, then the largest linen manufacturer in Finland. Tampella also manufactured paper yarn for insulating cables, which was where Ritva learned the various technical and visual aspects of paper yarn.
Paper has been used in textile making for centuries—most notably in Japan as part of the kimono tradition and in the creation of textiles by NUNO and other contemporary designers. In 2002, the museum acquired Fluctuation by textile designer Akihiro Kaneko, which combines polyester and paper and represents the importance of the finishing process to the overall look and texture of the final textile. Woodnotes textiles, on the other hand, are significant in the quantity and durability of paper used to ultimately create an “everyday” beauty for the home expressed through a clarity of form, technique, and material.
This table runner is one of a group of four Woodnotes textiles being considered for acquisition. These textiles reflect the best qualities of Finnish design in general and give the museum’s collection further depth in textiles from this country.

This object was donated by Woodnotes. It is credited Gift of Woodnotes.

Its dimensions are

Warp x Weft: 35 x 180 cm (13 3/4 in. x 5 ft. 10 7/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Table Runner; Manufactured by Woodnotes (Finland); paper yarn and cotton; Warp x Weft: 35 x 180 cm (13 3/4 in. x 5 ft. 10 7/8 in.); Gift of Woodnotes; 2006-36-3

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18707277/ |title=Table Runner |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>