Vintage St. Paul Preview | 20th-Century Märta Måås-Fjetterström Textile - ANTIQUES ROADSHOW | PBS
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was lost for words as something she picked up from a thrift store actually had a rather large price tag.
The PBS series returned to Minnesota to meet people with interesting stories and items, hoping that they are far more valuable than they realised.
This was the case for a guest of expert James Ffrench’s who presented him with a beautiful textile that she got for next to nothing.
“It’s a piece I found at a thrift store in Minnesota”, she began.
“One of the things I always go for are linens, needlework of any kind, because it interests me and I just like to study it and appreciate it.
“I have a lot of appreciation for women who have done needlework and this kind of stuck out at me.”
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Ffrench stated that his first reaction was that it was another 20th Century Scandinavian-inspired textile which he had seen plenty of before.
This was until he looked a little closer and saw that there was “something more going on” in the detail.
He commented: “There’s an incredible subtlety to the coloration and the way this is woven and put together.
“So I was thinking: ‘Gosh, you know, really this is better than most’ and intrigued myself.
“Then I recognised that in the corner, it was signed, which most commercial pieces aren’t signed.
“This is signed with the initials ‘MMF’ which stands for a woman named Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom who was probably the leading textile designer and producer in Sweden in the early 20th Century.”
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Maas-Fjetterstrom started off as a painter, setting up a workshop in 1918 where she produced textiles, curtain fabrics, rugs and carpet.
“She was of such prominence that she designed and manufactured the rugs that are used for the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, so she’s really a designer of some note”, Ffrench noted.
“Typically in the market, we come across pieces of hers that are quite large.
“I’ve never seen a handwoven, flat-weave textile of this size coming from her and the quality backs up with the initials.”
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When Ffrench questioned if its owner had any idea of how much it was worth, she replied: “Absolutely not. I knew it was worth the dollar that I paid for it, just to have something to study, because it was so interesting.”
He then summarised: “Right, because I would say, within the popularity of Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom things on the market today, because it’s really coming on quite strong, I would place a retail value on a piece like this today of somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000.”
The guest loudly inhaled, eyes bulging, before letting out a large groan, clearly uncertain of what to say.
“Certainly worth a dollar investment”, Ffrench joked, with the guest finally exclaiming: “Oh my goodness!”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on PBS.
