Traditional Norwegian Decorative Painting

I was at the wonderful old "Tuddal Høyfjellshotell" for New Year. It's a great family run hotel full of Norwegian traditions. One of these is called Rosemaling (rose painting). At Tuddal I took some pictures to show you what this old decorative painting is all about.

Rosemaling is a form of decorative flower painting that originated in eastern Norway around 1750, when continetal Baroque and Rococo artistic styles of the upper class, were introduced into Norway's rural culture. It's a typical rural and lower class expression, and since Norway had a very small upper class at the time the decorative art sometimes held very high quality.
Rosemaling was used on many items. Most common today are cupboards like the one on the left and above. Often they where dated and a monogram of the owner (not the painter) was added.

At Tuddal they have many chairs made form a solid log called kubbestol. They are a long standing tradition of rural Norway and many of them where painted with Rosemaling.

Here you can see two different Kubbestol. The size of the chair depends on the size of the tree it was made form.

At Tuddal they had one Kubbestol that I fell for! It's modern and the colours of the painting looks likes the national customs of the area.










Wooden chests are another typical item that has survived the test of time. They are big and was used by young girls to store their embroidered linnen they would bring into their marriage. The chest would be dated and the monograms of the married couple would be painted on. I am the lucky owner of one that is dated 1814 and 1824, which I think is the date of birth of groom and bride.
It was commen to decorate doors, walls and ceilings too. At Tuddal there are some pretty paintings on the doors. The are painted on bare wood. Most often the wood is painted first. Even the ceilings got a touch of Rosemaling.

Many smaller objects were painted too. Small wall hanging cupboards like this one are common, and popular with collectors since they fit nicely into a modern living room.























If you like traditions, warm welcomes, great food and stunning nature I can highly recommend Tuddal Høyfjellshotell. We had a great stay and I got a chance to have a close look at the Norwegian treadition of rose painting. Some people are still keepig this beautiful tradition alive today!