Early Danish nattrøje

Mr. Ladsen's fiancée's nattrøje, in the National Archives. This photo and the one at bottom are available under the Open Government License.

A nattrøje has recently been discovered in the National Archives in London, part of the cargo of a Danish ship that was seized on its way from the Faroes to Copenhagen by the Royal Navy in 1807, during the Second Battle of Copenhagen. The parcel that contained the nattrøje had not been opened since it was posted.

The red sweater was shipped from Tórshavn [in the Faroe Islands] on the cargo ship Anne Marie on 20 August 1807 by a carpenter called Niels C. Winther, with a letter saying "my wife sends her regards, thank you for the pudding rice. She sends your fiancée this sweater and hopes that it is not displeasing to her." The package is addressed to a Mr P. Ladsen in Copenhagen and its contents are described by the sender as a "sweater for sleeping", though its style closely resembles Faroese national dress. The note is written in Danish.

Nattrøje (pl. nattrøjer) in Danish means literally "night jacket," but although it could apparently be worn while sleeping during cold Scandinavian nights, the word came to be used for the common daytime garment worn by women under the sleeveless bodice.  (Sometimes knitted sleeves were attached to a bodice of woolen fabric to give the same effect without a second layer.)

Young girl's costume from Frejlev, Aalborg. "Strikket trøje" means "knitted jacket." Image via Folk Costume & Embroidery.

The jacket is finely-knitted to fit snugly, with three-quarter sleeves and a small all-over pattern. Most Danish nattrøjer were knitted in a solid color, with patterns of purled stars, and so it is interesting to see a multi-colored one! This is most likely the influence of Faroe stranded knitting.

Several nattrøje patterns are available on the internet (e.g. on Ravelry), and of course in folk knitting books such as Traditional Scandinavian Knitting by Sheila McGregor and Traditional Danish Sweaters by Vivian Høxbro.