A recent thesis from Lund University shows, however, that colour variations had been much greater than people have realised – and that houses in the 19th century were far from being always yellow at the start.
- There were large local differences, for example in Skåne, Blekinge and Öland which I have studied, but presumably in the rest of the country also, says Richard Kjellström who has just presented his thesis on building preservation at Lund University.
After taking samples from the facades, he was able to determine the original colours with the help of a microscope. He has also understood the changes in fashion and who in the village called the tune:
- The village priest had in many cases a leading role. The colours on the priest's house quickly had many imitators in the village. Colours were an effective and quite simple way of signalling boh difference and belonging, explains Kjellström.
These results are contrary both to the idea that houses with wrought panels were always painted with yellow linseed oil paint. Richard Kjellström has also seen that buildings with plastered facades were not always painted white, as many today believe. At Söderslätt, between Trelleborg and Ystad, there are many examples of farms that were originally painted light green, light red or light grey.
- Today these houses are often white or yellow. But the houses of poor fishermen almost always had whitewashed facades. He says that pigment, expecially blue, was expensive and adds that later on it was for practical reasons that the houses were whitewashed.