The History of Jämtland Polychrome Painted Mora Clocks
- moraclocks.co.uk
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
When people speak about a “Mora clock”, they are usually thinking of the graceful Swedish longcase clock with its rounded hood and curving belly.
Strictly speaking, the original Moraklocka comes from Mora in Dalarna, where clockmaking began in the 1740s and the earliest signed examples date from the 1750s. But as the fashion spread, the shape travelled far beyond Mora itself.
Different provinces adapted it in their own way, and that is where the wonderfully decorative Jämtland polychrome painted clock takes its place in the story.
What is a Jämtland painted Mora clock?
In the antiques world, the term is often used for a Swedish longcase clock in the Mora tradition whose case is associated with Jämtland, the northern Swedish province known for strong rural craft traditions.
By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the elegant Mora silhouette had become so admired that the name was often used more broadly for the shape itself, even when a clock was made or decorated in another district.
Antique specialists note that as the design spread across Sweden, each region developed its own character, and Jämtland became one of the most exuberant and folk-art-led branches of that wider tradition.
Where were they from?
These clocks are tied to the province of Jämtland, rather than to the town of Mora itself. That distinction matters.
The movement might originally have come from Mora or from the wider Swedish clock trade, but outside Dalarna the finished clock was often the result of a three-part process: the mechanism was sourced, the wooden case was made by a local craftsman, and then a painter was hired to decorate it.
That helps explain why Jämtland clocks can feel so individual. They belong to a recognisable family, yet no two seem quite alike.
Jämtland, along with Ångermanland, is especially associated with the more theatrical end of Swedish folk-art clocks. Antique reference material describes clocks from these regions as among the most decorative examples, with lively carving and painted embellishment that could include flowers, leaves and even bridal symbolism.
In other words, the Jämtland clock was not designed to disappear politely into the background. It was made to be seen, admired and remembered.
How did this painted style emerge?
To understand the finish, it helps to understand Swedish allmogemåleri.
This was the great tradition of rural decorative painting on furniture and interiors, carried out by painters working outside the urban guild system. Its great flowering was roughly 1750 to 1870, exactly the same broad period in which these painted clocks were being made and decorated.
In practical terms, that meant country households were used to colour, ornament and painted surface effects on important domestic objects. A longcase clock, being both useful and prestigious, was a perfect canvas for that culture.
What does “polychrome” mean here?
“Polychrome” simply means painted in several colours rather than one.
On a Jämtland clock, that usually meant a hand-built surface made up of a base colour and then additional layers of ornament, contrast and pattern.
Surviving examples in the antiques trade often show stronger, more cheerful combinations than the quieter white, grey or muted Gustavian schemes seen elsewhere. Blue and red are especially associated with some Jämtland examples, though the exact palette varies from clock to clock.
How was the polychrome finish made?
There was not one single factory recipe. Traditional Swedish paintwork was mixed and applied by hand, and official conservation sources note that painters historically made up their own recipes, so both the materials and the final look could vary from one workshop to another. What we can say with confidence is that these clocks were not “machine finished” in the modern sense. Their beauty comes from layered handwork.
The wooden case, very often made from pine, would first be prepared and given a ground or base coat. Mora clock cases in general were commonly made from local pine, and painted wood was entirely normal in Swedish furniture of the period.
On interior woodwork and furniture, traditional Swedish painters widely used linseed-oil paint, made from linseed oil and pigment, because it adhered well to wood and produced a durable surface. Limfärg and tempera also existed in the wider historic paint tradition, but for a hard-working wooden clock case, oil-based decorative painting makes the most sense.
Once the ground had been laid in, the decorative layers were added. Traditional Swedish decorative painting includes techniques such as lasering or glazing, svampmålning or sponge work, stänkmålning or splash painting, and ådring, the imitation of expensive timber grain. There were also country techniques such as nävamålning, a hand-worked patterning method used in folk painting.
A polychrome Jämtland clock could combine several of these ideas: a coloured base, painted mouldings, freehand floral motifs, faux grain, dotted or mottled passages, and bright contrasting highlights around carved details.
That is why the surface of an original Jämtland painted clock feels so alive. It is not flat colour. It is a built-up skin of pigment, brushwork, transparency and gesture. Some areas may be bold and opaque; others thin and almost translucent.
Over time the finish softens, wears at the edges, and develops the patina collectors love today. What began as practical country decoration becomes, with age, something far richer: a record of Swedish provincial taste, hand skill and domestic pride.
Why they matter today
A Jämtland polychrome painted Mora clock is more than a timepiece. It brings together several strands of Swedish design history at once: the clockmaking tradition of Mora, the spread of regional longcase forms across Sweden, and the rural painted-furniture culture of allmogemåleri. That is what makes these clocks so special. They are not merely elegant objects. They are surviving pieces of Swedish folk culture, where shape, colour and craftsmanship all meet in one unforgettable form.
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