Kraičių skrynių dekoravimas

LTLiaudies menas nuo seno glaudžiai siejasi su kasdieniu lietuvio valstiečio gyvenimu. Į paprastą, kuklią aplinką įpindamas puošybinius elementus, valstietis praturtindavo savo buitį, nes kiekvienas daiktas, jo paties padirbtas ir išpuoštas raižytais, tapytais, austiniais įvairiaspalviais ornamentais, džiugino akį, žadino estetinio pasigėrėjimo jausmą. Valstietis puošdavo pirkią, statydavo mažųjų formų architektūros statinius, memorialinius paminklus, medžio skulptūras ir kt. Trobos viduje spalvotais raštais jis išmargindavo indaujas ir spintas, lovas, stalus ir kitus baldus. Ypač dažnai margais raštais puošdavo merginų kraičio skrynias. Spalvingi baldai pilkokai ir apytamsei valstiečio trobai teikė jaukumo. [p. 41].

ENFolk craft by it’s nature was very closely related to the daily peasant’s life. Modest and simple environment used to be plentifully decorated. Cottages, huts, small forms of architecture were adorned, and inside the house - dressers, cupboards, beds, tables and other pieces of furniture were made to look nicely, too. The trousseau coffers were decorated with colourful patterns especially often. In the first half of nineteenth century the ornamented trousseau coffers were still quite broadly spread in Lithuania. Lavishly decorated coffers were used by village women for the storage of items of personal attire, usually hand-made by themselves, and linens for the household; the brides used to keep their trousseau in it. The coffers with polychromatic decorations are known not only in Lithuania. One can find some in Latvia, Poland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Slovak, Hungary and in a few places of Romania. The common feature of the coffers of the above countries is their bright colors, decorated mainly by the plant patterns of symmetrical composition. The coffers were used in Lithuania since sixteenth century. The side corners were fixed by decorative tin bindings. All the side walls (except the back-side) were painted by plain, usually darker, colour - green, brown, dark red, blue; the brighter colours were used quite seldom. The patterns were painted in brighter contrasting colours. The self-made brushes were applied, sometimes the paintings were done just by the fingers.The main decorated surface was that of a front wall - the patterns were freely spread in the flatness. Quite often the main surface was split into two, three, sometimes four or five composition fields of a squire or multangular shape (similar to Polish and German coffers). This way more patterns could be used, and the general composition could be developed better. The contrasting colour and various frames were applied, seeking to accentuate the patterns fields from the background. The bigger coffers with arched top were made more carefully, in brighter and lighter colours, matching in harmony and balance, with composition clear and rhythmical, general impression - pleasant and delighted. Only a few colours were applied for those pieces. Background was mainly blue, rarely green or any other colour, patterns - red, light yellow, white and black. To achieve the harmony of general decorative composition, the bindings used to be dark, sometimes with light colour incision, black curves or even various ornaments. Sometimes wives or other family members helped the carpenters to decorate those bigger coffers. The trousseau coffers gave to the folk craftsman the possibility to express its creative fantasies in painting, to show the artistic intuition and inventiveness in selecting the colours and patterns. The main ornaments of the coffers are various motives of floral world - the stylised bunches of flowers and bushes. The motive of blossoming plants was quite typical not only to Lithuanian peasant’s furniture, but to the village culture of other countries as well. The dominant motive is central and symmetrical composition of a fantastic flower, sometimes looking almost like a tree. The main patter is that of a lily and a tulip.One can seldom find the geometrical patterns in Lithuanian coffers, or the combination of straight and waved lines, indeed, the figures of people and scenes from the village life (wedding, for example) were quite uncommon. The most popular „living creatures“ pattern was the one with the birds. Every region of Lithuania used to have it’s own features of decorative furniture painting: the matches of colours, nature of ornaments, their disposition, as well as different bindings. If compared with Polish folk-craft trousseau coffers, usually decorated very intensively with small colourful patterns, decoration of Lithuanian coffers was more reserved, modest, balanced. If compared with Latvian coffers, the Lithuanian ones look more complex, decorated in more original and rich way. At the end of nineteenth century, beginning of twentieth century, with the expansion of culture of cities and manors and the increase of their influence, trousseau coffers little by little were changed by factory - made furniture of international nature. The carpenters did not receive any new orders, and the custom to store the trousseau in coffers diminished. It happened, that the ornaments of old coffers were treated like old-fashioned and painted on with a plain colour. We treat the ancient ornamented Lithuanian trousseau coffers as an original reminder of folk-craftsmen’s creativity. During ethnographic expeditions one can still find the old coffers and acquire them for a museum. The painting patterns are carefully copied by specialists, and copies are stored at the museums of Lithuania as a treasure for future generations to enjoy.