Folk art

The objects of the countryside, made by farmers and village craftspeople, with local forms and decoration.

Rural craftspeople took up the styles of the towns, but slowly: a Gustavian chair could be made in the country fifty years after the style had gone out of fashion in Stockholm.

Each district had its own forms. Dalarna is known for kurbits painting and Mora clocks, Hälsingland for its painted farmhouses. Around 1900 artists and collectors began to see folk art as a Swedish tradition to be preserved.

Pine and birch, often painted

Rose painting, kurbits and stencilled patterns

The styles of the towns, simplified and delayed

Dates and initials painted on the object

• Rya
• Folk brooch (sölja)
• Tripod pot
• Pewter tankard
• Rölakan
• Painted farmhouse walls
• Mora clock
• Hairwork jewellery from Våmhus
• Dala horse