This Dala horse in solid clear glass was designed by Christer Sjogren for the Swedish glassworks Lindshammar, circa 1970s. The traditional horse of Dalarna, normally carved and painted in wood, is translated here into glass: a thick, softly rippled body with the arched neck, stiff legs and flat base of the classic form, decorated in enamel with yellow garlands, red berries, green leaves and a white-and-red mane.
Lindshammar was founded in 1905 in Smaland, one of Sweden's glass-making regions, and remained in production for most of the century. Sjogren worked for the glassworks during the 1960s and 1970s, and museum collections in Sweden hold his pressed-glass window ornaments and glass handles alongside figures of this kind. The glass of the horse itself has a textured, ice-like surface, so light breaks up across the legs and base while the painted band around the body stays clear and bright.
The front carries the original paper label reading "Handmade in Sweden by Lindshammar". On the reverse there is a mark reading HSB Dalarna, which suggests a version made for a regional organisation rather than for the general retail range. Because the decoration is applied by hand, no two horses are painted quite alike, and this one is offered as a single piece.
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