Dalecarlian paintings a source of inspiration
During the 19th century the horses were as often as not painted with floral motifs, taking as their inspiration the country-style paintings of contemporary furniture and cottage interiors. The pedlars who travelled the country selling baskets, wooden casks, whetstones and other household utensils also included wooden horses among their wares, using them mostly to pay for the board and lodging they received along their way. As far back as the first half of the 19th century, many of the horses they sold originated from the villages round Mora, and especially from Bergkarlås, Risa, Vattnäs and Nusnäs. Today, manufacture is centred on Nusnäs.
The origins of todayís Dalecarlian horses may, perhaps, be sought in the rural poverty rife in Sweden at the turn of the century. Take, for example, the Olssons, a Nusnäs family which included among its members the brothers Nils and Janne. The family was poor, and to help make ends meet the children were obliged to carve horses at the end of each school day. In 1928, when they were just 13 and 15, the brothers started a small factory and set the traditional craft of horse-carving on an industrial footing. To purchase a band saw of their own they even took a loan of 400 kronor. Their mother, on hearing the news, is said to have burst into tears, anxiously inquiring how they intended to repay such a colossal sum of money.
The brothers mixed the colours themselves, making brushes from the fur of squirrelsí tails. Today, Dalecarlian horses are spread all over the world, and many of them come from the company founded by the Olsson brothers in Nusnäs.