Easter egg

An Easter egg is an attribute of Easter. The egg was a symbol of life, fertility, love and strength, and the symbolism of ornaments written on it played an important magical role. In the Lublin region, eggs were most often decorated using the batik technique, which involved writing a design with melted wax using a marker made of sheet metal in the form of a funnel set on a stick (see E/1117/ML).

According to the type of ornaments, Lublin Easter eggs can be divided into two main groups: northern, where single-coloured pattern with straight lines prevails, and southern, with multi-coloured and numerous volute ornaments; in the central part of Lublin region influences of the groups intermingled and multi-coloured ornaments with straight lines occurred. Additionally, in the ornamentally rich southern group, depending on the area where the colours and motifs were applied, the following subgroups were distinguished: Biłgorajska, Zamojska, Tomaszowska and Hrubieszowska. Pisanki of the zamojska type, similar to the biłgorajska type (see E/5444/ML), had red, black, brown and "onion" backgrounds with white, yellow and green decorations in the form of various twigs and ferns (see: E/1038/ML), rakes and a sun motif. The shape of the sunny sphere was connected to the symbolism of fire, which had the ability to fertilise and give life, and whose warmth was a condition for vegetation starting in spring.

In the ethnographic collection of the National Museum in Lublin, there are around 2500 Easter eggs made by artists from the Lublin region. Most of them were made in the years 1950-1980, while a significant number (around 500), unfortunately of unknown authorship, date from the early 20th century. This Easter egg is one of the oldest.