Cloudberry Dala Horse, Royal Wedding Edition

The Cloudberry Dala horse - the design created as Malung-Sälen municipality's wedding gift to Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel in 2010. Hand-painted by artists in Dalarna, Sweden. Five sizes, 13 cm to 25 cm.

WHAT YOU GET
- Design: "Cloudberry" (Hjortron) - deep green with the distinctive cloudberry-inspired kurbits pattern
- Sizes: 13, 15, 16, 20 and 25 cm (5.11" to 9.84")
- Material: solid Swedish wood
- Origin: hand-painted in Dalarna, Sweden
- Condition: new
- Shipping: free worldwide, tracked

THE ROYAL WEDDING HORSE
When Crown Princess Victoria married Daniel Westling in June 2010, Malung-Salen municipality in Dalarna gave the couple a Dala horse painted in a design made for the occasion. The Dala horse is Sweden's own emblem, which is why a municipality in Dalarna chose one as its gift.

That design is the Cloudberry. It is painted in deep green rather than the traditional red, with a kurbits pattern drawn from the cloudberry - the amber-coloured berry that grows wild in the Swedish mountains and is prized above any other in Nordic cooking.

WHICH SIZE SHOULD I CHOOSE?
- 13 cm ($248) - the most popular. Shelf, mantelpiece or display cabinet
- 16 cm ($316) - a little more presence. Good as a wedding or anniversary gift
- 20 cm ($475) - a display piece. Sideboard, entrance hall or a desk you want people to notice
- 25 cm ($605) - the largest we stock. A collector's piece and a serious gift

WHY THIS COSTS MORE THAN OUR STANDARD HORSES
This is not the everyday Dala horse. The Cloudberry pattern takes considerably longer to paint and is produced in small numbers - it costs us over three times what a plain horse of the same size costs, and it is not a design you will find in the tourist shops in Nusnas. If you want a traditional red Dala horse, we sell those from $65. This is for someone who wants the one with a story.

THE LARGER SIZES
The 20 cm and 25 cm are held in single quantities. At these sizes the kurbits pattern is painted in full detail rather than the simplified version a small horse carries, and the difference is obvious side by side. If you want one and the size shows as sold, message us - we can usually order it in.

A NOTE ON GIFTS
This horse was a wedding present, and it still works as one. It also suits a significant anniversary, a retirement, a corporate gift, or a Swedish citizenship - occasions where a red horse would read as a souvenir and this reads as a gift with meaning. We can include a handwritten card in Swedish or English if you ask.

WHAT IS A DALA HORSE?
The Dala horse comes from Dalarna in central Sweden, where wooden horses have been carved and painted for centuries - the oldest surviving example dates to the mid-1500s from Vastra Fors. The flowing floral decoration is called kurbits, a folk painting tradition from the same region. The Dala horse became Sweden's most recognised symbol after the 1939 New York World's Fair.

ABOUT OUR HORSES
We work directly with established workshops and independent artists in Dalarna. Every horse is painted by hand, which is why yours will not be identical to the photograph. On a pattern this detailed the variation is more visible than on a plain horse, and that is the nature of the object.

CARE
Dust with a dry or barely damp cloth. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from damp, as with any painted wood.

DELIVERY
Free tracked shipping from Stockholm, Sweden. Import duties to the USA are already paid by us - there is nothing for you to pay on arrival.

Questions about sizes or availability? Message us - we usually reply within a few hours.

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