Glossary

Leaf brush

A leaf brush is a type of brush with a flat and often slightly pointed or tapered bristle head, resembling the shape of a leaf. It is used to create shapes that look like leaves or foliage.

Blickpunkten

Bliktpunkten in Nusnäs is an event venue by the shore of Lake Siljan, operated by the local sports association.

Carved Dala Horse

A Dala horse carved by one of our skilled woodcarvers.

Dip

To dip the horse in primer/base paint.

Dab

A painting technique where the horse is speckled to resemble a dapple-gray horse.

Fladder

A sanding machine that uses a combination of sandpaper and brushes.

To fladdra

The horse is sanded in a special sanding machine called a “fladder.”

Wood chips

Finely shredded wood from leftover material in the manufacturing process.

To chip

To operate the wood chipper and turn leftover material into wood chips.

Wood chipper

All leftover material from the horse production is shredded into chips for our wood chip boiler.

Wood chip boiler

In the wood chip boiler, we burn leftover material from the horses to keep us warm during the winter.

Färnäshäst

The Dala horse from the neighboring village, shaped like a workhorse and decorated with a distinctive type of curling pattern.

Edge brush

A flat brush used for painting the bands on the horses.

To krusa

To paint the horse’s decorative pattern.

Krus painting

A simplified form of kurbits used to decorate Dala horses.

Krusning

The decorative pattern on Dala horses.

Kurbits

An imaginative floral decoration style in Swedish folk art and traditional rural culture, often featuring flower motifs.

Linseed oil

Used to oil the horse before decorative painting and to dilute the decorative paint.

Maypole / Midsummer pole

A maypole is a pole decorated with leaves and flowers, raised during Midsummer celebrations in Sweden. It symbolizes summer, joy, and togetherness, and people often dance traditional circle dances around it on Midsummer Eve.

Nusnäs

Nusnäs is a small village just east of Mora in Dalarna, Sweden. The village is best known for the production of the classic Dala horse, which is still hand-painted there today.

Olsson, Jannes

The younger brother who founded the company in 1928 together with his older brother.

Olsson, Nils

The older brother who founded the company in 1928 together with his younger brother.

Ranka

The leafy decoration attached to the maypole.

To spackle

The horse is spackled to smooth out imperfections.

Liner brush

A liner brush is a narrow brush with long bristles designed for painting thin lines, details, and decorative strokes.

Wittgrens

The neighboring property where you are welcome to sit down and enjoy the summer.

Blank

The sawn horse — the first step in the process.