HOW TO IDENTIFY A SWEDISH DALA HORSE by EUROTREASURE SWEDEN

•  Eurotreasure found this Dala horse at a special antiques sale in Skane Sweden and from preliminary inspection could identify it as probably a Vattnas and early, turn of the 19th to 20th century.
  How does one identify a Dala horse when you acquire one, or are about to acquire one?
• The answer is that you use every available resource you have, asking experts, checking reference books and of course searching the internet.
  After locating very similar photos in reference books and determining it to be indeed Vattnas, judging by the over all shape and remaining decorative elements, a search on the internet from a very helpful Swedish Dala horse website, it was possible to confirm the shape and a most exacting identifying mark, being the chest markings.
  One can see for themselves by comparing the eurotreasure photo of acquired Dala horse followed by a screen shot from an important research website.

 

EUROTREASURE SWEDEN God Jul from Sweden with Jenny Nystrom

Christmas and Mid Summer are the two biggest holidays in Sweden. The Swedish people go all out for everything God Jul (Merry Christmas) and all of he Swedish traditions that go with it. As someone who works with things Swedish all year long, eurotreasure sweden rejoices when the holiday of Swedish Jul comes every year because it is a time to finally 'avkoppla' - detach and relax (as the Swedish people say) and enjoy some time of from the relentless business of Swedish and European antiques.  We plan, of course, as all Swedish people do, to eat huge amounts of Swedish Christmas Jul food, drink lots of highly refined spirits, sing beautiful carols, hymns, popular songs, blues and country and just relax by a roaring fires eating apples and candy.
The painting you see (above) is by the darling of the Swedish art world, Jenny Nystrom. Her paintings consistently bring higher and higher prices in the art market.  It is a no wonder, for her art work is incredibly well painted with the most typically Swedish representations of daily life in the land of Sweden.  Antique books, of which there are many, are very collectible if they have illustrations by Jenny Nystrom.

DALA HORSE eurotreasure - the competition for Swedish market share.

The Dala Horse

Why not study what the competition does in the online market place? Small and medium sellers, be it ebay or direct website interaction, need a specific strategy in order to win enough market share to survive, or better yet, earn profit.
When a super hot item appears in an online auction, sometimes the seller is approached by various prospective buyers with ideas other than the flat, hard line rules of a major, highly visible online auction on the worlds biggest online website in the world, a seller must not waiver; for example - end an auction early (for obvious reasons), change the price or add a buy now price. These are some of the decisions a serious online seller must make. The excitement of the online market place can really influence the international selling market-price-top of mind-visibility of a certain area of interest, and influence the curiosity and further investigating of an item's history. The importance of a certain piece's history, including any movement on the market place, must be carefully guarded with all dignity and respect that a particular work of art's legacy implies. This preservation is of the greatest importance and guardianship is respected. So it must be said, that again, the interest of this (see photo below, the white horse on top) Dala horse has sparked major international interest, as well as that of the Swedish Dala Horse in general, Dalecarlian Carved Horses, and Swedish Folk Art in general. - eurotreasure

Ebay seller eurotreasure - the competition for Swedish market share.

Why not study what the competition does in the online market place? Small and medium sellers, be it ebay or direct website interaction, need a specific strategy in order to win enough market share to survive, or better yet, earn profit. We now look into how one Dala Horse can change the fragile market place and inject a lot of controversy over one piece. This one Dala, known in circles as the Sala horse, being on the market is drawing a reaction due to it's more recent presence on another online auction website. Many buyers and sellers use various online web auctions, as well as other sources to find their selling material, so most the unique Dala horses gain a sort of 'fame'. Some specific pieces become withdrawn from the market place due to rarity, never to be seen again, aging away in the den of some serious collector in some far away part of the world.

Ebay seller eurotreasure - the competition for Swedish market share.

Hans Gunnar Hedin (1902-1984) from Svardsjo-Dalarna, Sweden. A new carving by Hedin has been acquired by eurotreasure Sweden, amid a fury of bidding and crowded lookers a few choice items were to be had, so what was done, was done, and when the bidding ended eurotreasure once again scored gold.
The masterpiece sculpture above was sold, but we just found another by Hedin, a photo should appear here on the eurotreasure sweden soon.

The Christmas Elves were a plenty at the Jul Auktion in Sweden. After our prolonged multi-hour viewing we tired of Jul figurines and decorations and so it was time to explore the main area where we saw some very nice old curiosities. Among those was a nice sleigh, perfect for Jul Swedish style. Also a large coffee kettle, larger than anything in recent memory, large and from the turn of the last century. All in all a viewing worth it's weight in at least silver if not gold. The Elves above are old.

Anders Zorn and his favorite Dala horse.

A Dala horse - Known widely in Sweden as a Zorn style, not because of the style itself but because the famous Swedish artist Anders Zorn loved Dala horses and in particular had choosen horses from the same area that this one is from. Horses were carved in Bergkarlås and painted by the Hvits in Vattnäs. Zorn liked Dalecarlian horses and bought many from the late 1800's until the 1930's. His museum in Mora has pieces in exhibit. The Dala as a candle holder was first made by Zorn from a regular Dala horse and the Dala horse candle holder has been a mainstay ever since. The Dala pictured above was owned by an old woman, last known to be in her 90's who had gotten it from her mother had to let it go due to her night stand in the home being too cluttered by the few of her last, most treasured possessions.