1834 Ida Silfverberg

Red Floral Cotton Print – Finland ca. 1820–1830

This charming design is based on a Finnish bodice fabric preserved in the National Museum of Finland. The original, a printed red cotton with tiny floral motifs and dotted details, dates from around the 1820s–1830s.

The lively strawberry-red ground with touches of blue, yellow, and white creates a warm and cheerful impression typical of Nordic folk fashion of the time.

Perfect for short Regency-style tops, vests, or aprons — and equally lovely imagined as a small wool print for colder climates. Printed on fine cotton suitable for both historical and modern sewing projects.

Ida Silfverberg was a Finnish painter born in Helsinki in 1834 and passed away in Florence in 1899. She was known for painting in Germany, France, and Italy. Silfverberg started her artistic journey at a young age, painting copies of artworks at the Finnish Art Association’s exhibition when she was just 15 years old. She later specialized in creating copies of paintings by Dutch artists from the collection of the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. Throughout her career, she gained recognition for her talent, winning prizes such as the second prize in the Finnish Ducat Competition in 1860 and the first prize in the same competition in 1862.

Silfverberg’s work included genres like portraiture and genre scenes. One notable piece attributed to her is “Woman teaching a Child to Read,” which was initially believed to be by Pehr Hilleström until her true signature was discovered after a forged Hillstrom signature was exposed as fraudulent.