Föreningen för Svensk Hemslöjd was founded in Stockholm in 1899 by the textile artist Lilli Zickerman, the first national handicraft association in Sweden. Its board was chaired by Prince Eugen and included the artist Ottilia Adelborg and the women's rights campaigner Elisabeth Tamm.
Zickerman's argument was economic as much as aesthetic: that craft sold well and honestly would give rural households a living, and that traditional technique was worth keeping because it produced better things. The association sold through its own shop in central Stockholm, commissioning rugs, curtains and upholstery from named designers working in established techniques. Pieces made for it are generally marked SH, alongside the designer's own initials.
