SOPHIE HODOROWICZ KNAB AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Previous Publications

​

Categories

All
Feast Days
Forced Labor
Herbs Plants
Poland History
Polish Country Life
Polish Customs
Postcards From Poland
Roadside Shrines

Decorating for Easter in a Polish Country Cottage Part 1. Holy pictures and paper flowers

3/18/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture


​



​It's interesting to read how spring cleaning, now pretty much considered an antiquated ritual,  was at one time an  important aspect of life in Poland as part of the preparation for Easter.

The impending arrival of spring and  Easter Sunday, both rich with the meaning of  rebirth and renewal, also meant that it was time to refresh and renew the interior of their cottages.  The walls, darkened  with soot and smoke from wood fires and kerosene lamps, were whitewashed, windows were cleaned and  holy pictures redecorated, the latter chiefly done by the women of the house.

​Pictures on walls, specifically,  holy pictures, in a Polish country cottage became more commonplace towards the end of the 19th century. By the time of World War I,  a country cottage could boast a least a few holy pictures and many more than that, depending on finances. They were bought on pilgrimage or church feast days or from itinerant peddlers who made the rounds of villages. The pictures were hung near the ceiling in a row on the wall opposite the entryway. 
​​

Picture
 






They were secured to the wall with the help of a piece of wood that ran along the length wall at ceiling level  that would cause the top of the picture to tilt forward into the room.  If that wall ran out of room to accommodate all the pictures, the remainder  were hung on the nearby wall with a window. 










By the late 1930's, there was an increased tendency to place the holy pictures not so much in a row but in a more radom fashion. If, for instance, a family owned  two large pictures,  one was hung  above the  headboard of the bed(usually located in a corner against the wall) with the other one on the next wall at the same height. Smaller holy pictures were placed at the sides of both pictures..(Sierpc photo)

Picture

Picture
Some images were decorated with chains made from a combination of crepe paper and straw or ribbons and used as  garlands below the picture, attached  three quarters or halfway down the frame and fastened to the side of the frame with flowers or to the wall.
​
For the people living at the juncture of the Wisła and San rivers, known as Lasowiacy,  the larger and most cherished religious pictures during high holy days  were decorated  in a variety of ways. Interestingly enough, in this region spruce and fir branches were used  chiefly for Easter  and  less so during the Christmas season. The branches were tucked behind the holy pictures, nailed around them or between them. 

The holy pictures were also decorated with artificial flowers, and not just in this small  region of Poland, but throughout all of southern Poland.  Folk art historians claim that artificial flowers made an appearance in country cottages right around the same time as wycinanki, colorful paper cut outs,  due to the arrival of glossy colored paper in the 1850's. The flowers were made from a combination of stiff paper as well as  crepe paper, a commodity  readily available by the 18th and 19th century.

The flowers themselves were made from the softer, more malleable crepe paper, and attached to thin branches  covered with  green crepe paper. The stiff paper was used to made into green leaves. The most frequent types of flowers made by the Lasowiacy were roses, chrysanthemums and the tiny, daisy-like flowers of chamomile.

Other regions made poppies, daisies, bluebottle, forget-me-nots and cornflower (bachelor's button). The flowers were then attached to the frames in a variety of ways,  either around or under the pictures. 
​
​Some images were decorated with chains made from a combination of crepe paper and straw or ribbons and used as  garlands below the picture, attached  three quarters or halfway down the frame and fastened to the side of the frame with flowers or to the wall.  The following photos depict the variety of ways  the Lasowiacy decorated their holy pictures.


​


Picture
. As can be seen by the illustration to the left  curtains made from tissue paper in white, rose, yellow or light blue colors were made to decorate the holy pictures. The paper curtain was glued to the top and half way along the length of the picture a thin ribbon was used to pull back the paper curtain as one would on a window curtain and paper flowers added.

In remote  villages, colorful paper and  tissue flowers were used by the women folk of Poland for a long time to beautify their home at Easter. When artificial flowers, both silk and plastic, readily became available in the marketplace, they began to replace the labor intensive method of making their own. The age-old art form was almost lost but if  You Tube is any indication, it seems to be making a revival in Poland.
​
I've always loved red poppies as a flower and used silk ones to decorate my image of Our Lady of Częstochowa found at the top of the blog
​.
Photos by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab at skansens in Łowicz and Sierpc in Poland.
​
Next  blog: Decorating Interior of Polish County Cottage Part 2 Paper curtains
 
Bibliography:
Aleksander Jackowski, Polska Sztuka Ludowa. Warsawa 2002.
 Zdobnictwo Wnętrz Wiejskich na Terenie Wideł Wisły i Dolnego Sanu. Polska Sztuka Ludowa.  1973 XXVII nr.3 (illustrations)


​

2 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Feast Days
    Forced Labor
    Herbs Plants
    Poland History
    Polish Country Life
    Polish Customs
    Postcards From Poland
    Roadside Shrines

    One of the biggest moments in my life was being able to sign for my very own library card. When I'm not reading, researching and writing I'm riding my bike, sewing or gardening. I love flea markets, folk art, and traveling to Poland.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Previous Publications