This collection is named after Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933), who worked as a dragoman (interpreter) at the Swedish diplomatic mission in Constantinople. Martin was a dedicated collector who documented his journeys in a number of acclaimed books. These can be found in the Konstfack library.
- Moderne Keramik von Centralasien (1897)
- Morgenländische Stoffe (1897)
- Dänische Silberschätze aus der Zeit Christians IV aufbewahrt in der Kaiserlichen Schatzkammer zu Moskau (1900)
- Die persischen Prachtstoffe im Schlosse Rosenborg in Kopenhagen (1901)
- A history of oriental carpets before 1800 (1908)
- Sett, hört och känt : skisser från Turkiet, Ryssland, Italien och andra land (1933)
Martin made a number of journeys at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s to Russia and Turkey among other places, during which he collected items to bring back to Sweden and show them at the 1897 General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm.
Parts of Martin's collection are in Medelhavsmuseet and the Swedish Royal Armoury. The Martin Collection at Konstfack contains images collected by Martin, including photographs and original graphic prints.
The collection was intended to be used in the museum's comparative studies and came into the ownership of the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design in 1916. It was later donated to the Technical School (Tekniska skolan), which was the predecessor of today's Konstfack.
The collection consists of 556 binders, 15 boxes and a folder of loose posters, 9 boxes of handmade jewellery sketches, one box of Japanese wood carvings from the end of the 19th century along with a shelf of uncatalogued books in Japanese, illustrated with beautiful patterns.
The image collection is accessible to the public during the library's opening hours. It is located one floor down in the library.
Poster of the Martin collection
The poster shows the topics of the collection at the time of the donation. This classification gives an idea of the subjects taught at the Technical School at that time.