Details from dressingroom from Backhansgården in Svärdsjö, reconstructed at Dalarnas museum. Cupboard and walls are painted the year 1781 of Målar Erik Eliasasson (1754-1811), Rättvik
The museum has a rich collection of Dalarna folk art. The paintings on display in the Folk Art Gallery were produced between the 1790´s and 1860´s, the period when this type of art was most popular. Originally, small articles such as boxes, chests and cupboards were painted and decorated, but the artists later went on to painting complete interiors, including walls and ceilings. Motifs were mainly biblical, but the royal family also featured in the paintings as did common conceptions of life, such as the "Ålderstrappan", representing the ages of a man´s life and the "Ungdomskvarnen" ("The Mill of Youth").
The peasant artists were self-taught craftsmen, who often wandered far from their home parishes on their travels carrying the tools of their trade.
Two reconstructed interiors make it easier for us to understand the setting and function of the paintings.