Painted farmhouse walls
The farmer’s wallpaper: flower scrolls and borders painted directly on the wall or on canvas, in Hälsingland and Dalarna.
Wealthy farmers in Hälsingland had their best rooms painted in the 18th and 19th centuries, often for a wedding. The painters took inspiration from manor-house wallpapers and from Baroque and Rococo ornament, but made them their own.
Since 2012 seven Hälsingland farmhouses have been a World Heritage Site. The paintings can be dated by signatures, style and the painters’ known working years.
Materials: Distemper or egg-oil tempera on wood, plaster or canvas
Manufacture: Painted in place by itinerant decorative painters, often with stencils for the borders and freehand for the flowers.
Large, freehand flower scrolls – kurbits – in panels.
Stencilled borders and marbling imitating costly materials.
The painter’s signature and a date, often somewhere on the wall.