Old Black Dala Wooden Horse with height ca 10 cm

Black Dala Horse - Scandinavian dala horses

Height:10 cm

Black Dala Horse is one of the popular Swedish handmade wooden souvenirs. The origin of Dala horse has been traced as early as the 18th centaury. People used to sit around the open fires during winter evenings, enjoying of carving figures from odd pieces of wood. The people in those days chose horse as valuable animal. These horses were brought home to the children who treasured their toys. During the 19th century it became custom to paint the dala horses in the richly colored flower patterns of the Dala paintings. Traditionally a dala horse is painted bright red with details and a harness in white, green, yellow and blue. It may also be painted bright blue or, in the Rättvik area, grey. The somewhat odd shape of the horse is said to be derived from the clocks industry in the region. The horses were originally made of the cutoff corners when making the round clock face.

We sell horses made by Nils Olssons Hemslöjd. In 1928 the brothers Nils and Jannes Olsson took up the handicraft. Nils was 15, Jannes 13 years old. Since then the genuine Dala horses have been made here in the workshop. In surrounding villages many people are fully occupied with carving horses to be collected and delivered to Nusnas, where decorating takes place.