Dala horse

Several types of Dala horses are made with distinguishing features common to the locality of the site where they are produced.

The villages were involved in the art of furniture and clock-making, and it is likely the leftover scraps of wood were put to use in the production of Dala horses.

In the 19th century,Stikå Erik Hansson [sv] from the village Risa in the parish of Mora introduced the technique of painting with two colours on the same brush, still used today.

In the book "The Wooden Horses of Sweden," the author mentions that this famous Dala painter is buried in a small churchyard in Nebraska after having immigrated to the Midwest in 1887 at the age of 64.

He changed his name to Erik Erikson upon coming to America and is buried at Bega Cemetery in Stanton County Nebraska, outside of Norfolk.

This marks the beginning of a new era for the Dala horse, transitioning from toy to a national symbol and popular souvenir.

According to the legend, soldiers loyal to King Charles XII were quartered in Dalarna and carved the toys as gifts for their hosts.

Early production of Dala horses was concentrated to four villages: Bergkarlås, Risa, Vattnäs, and Nusnäs, all in the parish of Mora.

[3][4] Many of the works by the earliest horse makers are no longer in existence but those that remain are cherished by their owners and have often been passed down through generations.

Today, many of the villages in Dalarna county make Dala horses with individual styles representing the district of origin.

The trees are felled and sawed into pieces of a suitable size for the blanks that will eventually be made into Dala horses.

[5] The architects Sven Markelius and Anders Beckman chose the Dala horse because they were searching for a powerful symbol for the Swedish pavilion at the fair.

SWAE commissioned the Swedish Artist Lars Gillis to paint the Dala horse in a way that represents the connection between Sweden and Chicago.

[6] It is now kept in the lobby of the Swedish American Museum, which provided a fiberglass replica placed on the corner of Clark and Farragut streets.