Linen has been in use for more than 5,000 years, making it the oldest of the four major textiles, wool, cotton, silk and linen. It is famed for its durability and its tensile strength is twice that of cotton.

Some of European folklore’s most famous stories are associated with flax and its production processes; Sleeping Beauty and the spinning wheel, Rumplestiltskin and the King’s demand that the miller’s daughter spin straw into gold.

The rich demanded the finest linen for clothing and sheets, but coarser linen was also needed for farm workers' clothes and sacks. Even the linen used for sacks is soft and beautifully made, as you will see from these baskets. No modern fabric has the same texture and tone.