Swedish folk art

In the countryside farmers and village craftsmen made furniture, textiles and tools with local forms, painting and patterns.

Swedish peasant culture flourished from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, when the farmers' economy improved. The large rooms of the farms were furnished with cupboards, chests, beds and Mora clocks, often painted in strong colours. In Dalarna and Hälsingland the Dalarna and Hälsingland painting styles developed, with flowers, biblical scenes and people in contemporary dress.

Textiles were just as important: ryas, wall hangings, coverlets and woven rugs in patterns handed down through generations. The forms borrowed from the styles of the towns – Rococo, Gustavian, Empire – but interpreted them freely and often several decades later. Around 1900 folk art became a model for artists and designers.