19th Century Swedish Dalarna Folk Art Cabinet dated 1805 with original paint

This corner cabinet, dated 1805, reflects the beautiful, naive painting created during the 18th century typically executed in the valleys of Dalarna, Northern Sweden. Our cabinet is untouched, the color palette and composition of the hand-painting typical of this region in the late 18th century / early 19th century.
Lock and key original to the piece.

Dalarna is a region in central Sweden known for its rich folk culture with unique traditions of music, painting, and decorative arts. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, most Scandinavian peasants were quite competent at carving and whittling wood as this was a common way to pass the time in the cold winter months; however in Dalarna –and in particular the villages of Rattvik and Leksand– emerged as the center of the “kurbits” style. Through the work of wandering artists in search of commissions, the style was propagated throughout the neighboring regions leading to its prevalence in the homes of peasants throughout Sweden. The name “kurbits” refers to a type of gourd or cornucopia that was commonly painted as a symbol of vegetal fertility at the turn of the 19th century. The term soon came to encompass the delicate floral patterns often accompanied by biblical scenes in contemporary dress that decorated provincial wall paintings, cabinets, marriage chests, and other decorative art objects in the Swedish countryside. Kurbits, or folk painting, is an old imaginative and lush floral painting practiced by the painters from this region. This richly decorative floral painting is also called “rosemaling”.

Though extremely popular between 1770 – 1870, Dalmåleri (loosely translated as “the painting style of Dalarna”) was not recognized as its own distinct style until the mid-1900s when researchers and art historians, with the help of local museums, rejuvenated interest in the cultural and artistic heritage of Dalarna and coined the term “Dalmåleri.” Initially dalmåleri was limited to marriage chests /cabinets and wall paintings displayed for special occasions but with the increased availability of different pigments by the late 18th century, color was widely used throughout cottage interiors, leading to the rich variety in furniture decorated in the kurbits styles.