The ubiquitous sexy hourglass swedish 'Mora' clocks that we all know and love originally came from around the town of Mora in the Dalarna region of central sweden.They tend to be between 6 and 7 feet tall and can be a plain colour or alternatively very ornate both in terms of painting and ornamentation.
The 'city' versions were much more sophisticated in their looks but the rough charm and simplicity of country versions
are teh ones that have come to symbolise the mora clock clock in its essential form.
As agriculture and mining failed in the mid 1700s, the locals turned to clockmaking to make ends meet with families specialising in making or painting different parts of the clock,the movement or the face and incorporating them into other furniture including cabinets and even beds.It is said that in the 1800s nearly 100 families were involved at the height of 'Mora' production although taxation and labour costs eventually curtailed production.
We think that around 40-50 000 mechanisms were produced with 1000 clocks produced every year in the 1800s. One of the most famous makers was Anders Andersson who built clocks in the late 1700s and known by his initials on the clockfaces as ' A A S Mora' altho this signature has no doubt been copied over the years as there are many mora clock faces that we have seen embossed with the 'A A S Mora' script.
