Emma Carolina Helena "Lilli" Zickerman (29 May 1858 – 5 September 1949) was a Swedish

textile artist Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials use ...

who pioneered the Swedish Handicraft Association () in 1899. In 1914, she embarked on the creation of an inventory of popular textile art in Sweden, documenting some 24,000 items with photographs and samples of threads by 1932.

Biography

Born on 29 May 1858 in

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden. Skövde is situated around 150 k ...

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

, Emma Carolina Helena Zickerman was the daughter of the pharmacist Carl Peter Zickerman and his wife Hedvig Amalia née Malmgren. She was raised in Skövde together with her three brothers. After studying sewing and weaving at the school run by the

Friends of Handicraft The Friends of Handicraft () is a Swedish association for the education, development, production and experimentation of advanced textiles and design. History The association was founded in 1874 by Sophie Adlersparre. From the outset, the associati ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, she returned to Skövde in 1886 where she taught textile arts and, collaborating with Agnes Behmer, opened an embroidery shop selling their works and patterns. The following year she studied at the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

and went on to exhibit at the 1897 Stockholm Exposition, receiving a silver medal. Inspired by the rural textiles displayed at the

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum () is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to begin in 1520) to the ...

, in 1899 she established the Swedish Handicraft Association (Föreningen för svensk hemslöjd), with a board chaired by Prince Eugen and including the artist

Ottilia Adelborg Eva Ottilia Adelborg (6 December 1855 – 19 March 1936) was a Swedish children's book illustrator, comics artist and author and the founder of a school for lace making. A literary award, the Ottilia Adelborg Prize, was established in her honor ...

, the women's rights activist

Elisabeth Tamm Elisabeth Tamm (30 June 1880, at the manor Fogelstad in Julita, Sweden, Julita, Södermanlands län – 23 September 1958) was a Swedish Liberalism, liberal politician and women's rights activist. She was known in the parliament as ('Tamm of ...

and other prominent Swedes. Zickerman ran the association's shop, obtaining items from those who had participated in the Stockholm Exposition. The organization gradually expanded, offering attractive, high-quality aesthetic works based on traditional techniques such as upholstery, curtains and rugs. A network of outlets was created throughout Sweden. In 1908, Zickerman moved to

Vittsjö Vittsjö () is a locality situated in Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 1,665 inhabitants in 2010. History During the Kalmar War, Vittsjö was the site of the 1612 Battle of Vittsjö, where recently crowned Swedish King Gusta ...

in Scandia where she built the Sommargården residence, complete with a weaving school (1912). The weaving school was headed by

Elsa Gullberg Elsa Gullberg (14 March 1886 – 1 March 1984) was a Swedish interior architect and textile designer. She was a pioneer of modern textile design in Sweden and played an instrumental role in transforming the textile industry. She was one of the re ...

and later by

Märta Måås-Fjetterström Märta Livia Vilhelmina Måås-Fjetterström (21 June 1873 – 13 April 1941) was a leading Swedish textile artist in the early 20th-century. She is remembered in particular for the weaving studio she opened in Båstad in 1919 and for the decorati ...

. From 1914 to 1931, Zickerman devoted her efforts to creating a comprehensive inventory of popular textile art in Sweden. Working in the field, she catalogued 24,000 items complete with black and white photographs and samples of thread to indicate colour and texture. She had hoped to publish the results in 27 volumes but the only part to appear was a preliminary section on röllaken weaving, published in 1937. After returning to Skövdre in 1946, Lilli Zickerman died on 5 September 1949. She is buried in St Sigfrid's Cemetery.

Biography

References

Further reading