Decoupage: a little known Swiss tradition

Decoupage (paper cutting) has been part of the local traditions for centuries in this part of Switzerland. It is an art that is instantly recognisable and can be adapted to many canvases.

Over the decades, we have travelled the world which included moving containers full of "menage". One part of our household is my Swiss guest room filled with decoupage from curtains to sheets to lampshades to candles. It is an eccentricity my family has let me indulge in just like my pink furniture ... but that is another story.

One of the few rainy days during these ski holidays Expat Girl and I took ourselves off to Chateaux d'Oex to discover the local museum. Founded in 1922, the Musée du Vieux Pays d'Enhaut has become one of the principal folk-art museums in Switzerland showcasing collections which have been gathered together over the years by people who were passionate about the history of this region and its traditions.

Early on, two local artists chose paper and scissors to express their talent and their emotional impressions. Whether through examples of finely cut book marks, larger symmetrical monochrome compositions or later, collages of many colours, they left a beautifully balanced treasure of traditional art called "decoupage".

Decoupage of Rougemont

The atmosphere of homes from bygone days 

of a kitchen in which you can imagine people still living.

This museum provides the "memory", the record of a mountain region which for many years was quite cut-off.

Its people created a craft industry of an exceptional quality and their beautiful chalets housed treasures of a living art.

Amongst these treasures you can admire a huge forge

A room devoted to the early days of tourism

A family crest carved into a window frame

My personal favourite this painted cupboard

Everyday objects abound: kitchen-ware, work-tools, cow-bells, toys, pottery, lace-work and objects made from straw.

Paper cutting has become a tradition of the Pays-d’Enhaut. More than 60 paper cuts from past centuries are presented at the Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut.

Louis Saugy (1871 – 1953), a man of a jovial and playful character, let his imagination run riot in the creation of scenes of village life, country and mountain views remembered from long rambles around Rougement.

Stained glass, spinning wheels and traditional costumes

A bedroom with the bed still made

An old fashioned loom, a device used to weave cloth and tapestry

A well deserved hot chocolate while writing a "decoupage" postcard