Dora Jung (1906-1980)
textile designer
Dora Jung studied at the textile design department of the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1929 to 1932. After graduating, she established her own weaving firm in Helsinki, which she kept until the end of her life. She also designed textiles for the Tampella company from 1936 to 1941 and from 1956 to 1972, and for the Pohjanlahti textile mill in Tammisaari from 1949 to 1951. Jung also taught art at the Helsinki city girls’ vocational school from 1935 to 1945.
Dora Jung was a versatile textile designer who created textiles for the home, churches and public display. She was an expert in damask technique, which she went on to develop, and she renewed Tampella’s range of damask products. The best-known tablecloths designed by Dora Jung for the Tampella mills was Viivaleikki (Play of Lines), which was awarded the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennial of 1957 and 100 ruusua (100 Roses) commissioned by the Stockmann department store in Helsinki in honour of its centennial in 1962. Jung’s Kielo (Lily of the Valley) table-textile collection was designed in 1967 for the fiftieth anniversary of Finnish independence.
Dora Jung designed her first ecclesiastical textiles in the early 1930s and most of her works in this area came about in the 1930s. She designed cassocks, altar cloths, and chalice and book cloths. The robes of bishops and the archbishop of Finland are a special group among these works. Over the decades, the visual themes of these designs evolved from conventional Christian symbols in a more graphic form involving texts from the Bible in simplified form. Dora Jung always designed her ecclesiastical textiles to suit the architectural design and mood of the church for which they were intended.
Jung’s oeuvre includes important public works of textile art, such as the curtains of the Finnish National Theatre and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. She also designed wall-hangings for public facilities. Her tapestry Uudenmaan arki (Everyday life in Uusimaa Province) from 1953 is in the Helsinki Court of Appeal, and the tapestry Katarina Jagellonica is in Turku Castle.
Works by Dora Jung were included in numerous exhibitions of Finnish applied art both in Finland and abroad. She received the Grand Prix at the Milan triennials in 1951, 1954 and 1957. Jung also held several exhibitions together with Gunnel Nyman and Lisa Johansson-Pape. Her retrospective exhibition was on show at the Museum of Applied Arts in Helsinki in 1983, and it went on to tour several localities in the country.
Auli Suortti-Vuorio
Biblography:
Dora Jung. Näyttelyluettelo. Toimitus ja layout Lisa Johansson-Pape ja Iris Siitonen. Taideteollisuusmuseon julkaisu no 7. Helsinki 1983.
Maiestas Domini: Dora Jungin liturgisten tekstiilien viesti. Riitta Ryökäs, Joensuun yliopisto, 2002. Joensuun yliopiston teologisia julkaisuja 4.
Siltavuori, Eeva, I never tire of watching a gull´s glide. Form Function Finland vol. 1/1981.
Photos:
100 Roses tablecloth
The tablecloth is of linen damask and was commissioned by the Stockmann department store in Helsinki in honour of its centenary in 1962. Photo Aarne Pietinen / Design Museum
Play of Lines tablecloth
This tablecloth design brought Dora Jung the Grand Prix at the 11th triennial of Milan in 1957. It was also obtained by several foreign museums for their collections. The material is linen damask. Photo Aarne Pietinen / Design Museum
The altar cloth of Pohja Church
Dora Jung’s ecclesiastical textiles were always an integral part of the architecture and mood of the church. The four apostles are the theme of the altar cloth of Pohja Church. Shown here is the symbol of Mark. The altar cloth measures 82 x 77 cm and is woven in damask technique. The warp is of natural colour and the weft is green. Photo Design Museum
