Östermyra iron works, roller blind

Roller blind depicting the Östermyra iron works (current Törnävä). Based on a drawing by Johan Knutson. The blind was later attached to a stretcher frame. Painted roller blinds and window shades were often advertised in the 1850s and 1860s in newspapers and different cities. Roller blinds were advertised by paperer J. Litonius and painter E. F. Norring in Helsinki, drawing teacher G. Hedman in Pietarsaari, master painter C. F. Bergström in Porvoo and J. S. Wahlman in Turku, as well as painter E. Grönholm in Hämeenlinna. In the 1850s, Helsinki-based guild painter Lars Johan Källström advertised shades that featured ‘Finnish landscape pictures,’ oriental flowers and plants and stripes. Shades painted by Källström were advertised widely, all the way to Vyborg. Källström’s advertisement from 1860 appears to be the first time that the landscapes were explicitly mentioned to be Finnish. Before that, descriptive adjectives were rarely used and the ornamentation of the shades was mostly described as ‘moderna’ (modern) or ‘utländska’ (foreign). H2023002:2