What are Dala Horses?:
Dala Horses (aka Dalarna) are small wooden horses traditionally carved from scrap wood during long winter nights, as part of a 300 year old Swedish tradition. Historical horse carving locations are the towns of Bergkarlas, Vattnas and Nusnas in Sweden, where to this day visitors can watch the hand-carving of the Dala horses and buy them.
Traditional Dala horses usually have red paint with details in contrasting colors. The plump body of the horse is said to be derived from the scrap cutoff corners when making round clock faces. Antique Dala horses can be found in Swedish museums.
Where to Get Dala Horses:
Nusnas, Sweden, is the center of Dala horse making nowadays, but the carvers can barely keep up with the demand. In Nusnas, the most famous carvers are the Nils Olsson and Grannas Olsson workshops and you can watch the craft in person.
Visitor review: " In the Nils Olsson workshop, we were shown how they cut the horses out of pine and then hand-carve and hand-paint them. There are also about 60 people in various homes that also hand carve them for the company, but all the horses are hand painted at the workshop.
Visitors can buy the horses and have names painted on them by the women working there. And they are much less expensive than the ones that are shipped and sold in stores throughout Sweden. The staff at the workshop were most friendly and proud of the work that they do."
Visitors can buy the horses and have names painted on them by the women working there. And they are much less expensive than the ones that are shipped and sold in stores throughout Sweden. The staff at the workshop were most friendly and proud of the work that they do."
