This pillow is made from a European vintage grain/flour sack. The sack has been opened & patches were removed. It was then boiled in soap water for hours to get out stains, left-over grains & flour. Then all the little the patches were re-attached. The linen is extremely soft to the touch unlike some scratchy linen from Eastern Europe such as Hungary. This pillow is made from a very rare sack that belonged to a tanner (Rothgerber in German) in 1848. A 'Rothgerber' cleanded & stretched heavy cow leather for shoes, saddles & horse reins. His name was also unusual: Ballhas Wohnhas. He lived in Ebingen, a part of the Black Forrest in the German southern state of Baden-Wrttemberg. Ebingen received city rights around 1250 from the Hohenberg ducal family. in 1367 it became a part of the kingdom of Wrttemberg. (see 3 other matching pillows: 2 with print, one also without print) Our pillows are made by real tailors with an eye for detail. Our zippers are hidden. We use feather inserts that are slightly bigger than the cover to make sure the pillows keep their shape & the corners are filled properly. The back of this pillow is also made from color-matching, antique, handwoven linen. The piping is made of black vegan leather, so you can actually wash the pillow case. Linen farm sacks were handwoven mostly in Austria, Switzerland & Germany. Harvesting flax & combing it to remove the straw pieces took many, many hours. Afterwards, women & children were usually spinning the flax, men did the weaving. Tar paint was used to stamp names or initials & symbols of guilds to easily identify the owner of the sack when it was sent to or picked up from the local mill. Numbers & dates were stamped for inventory purposes. Since sacks were so valuable, they were patched up & repaired over & over again. The silver lapel pin on the right upper corner of each pillow is our seal of authenticity. To learn how we make these pillows here in Brooklyn, NY, watch this video on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/206715925 We take pride in producing in New York City, using local tailors & paying them 200% of the common wage. Only US made accessories are being used. We are proud to be part of a group that: Reclaims Restores Repurposes Restyles existing materials. Rare Antique German Grain Sack Pillow From 1848 - 18