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The furniture of the old peasant houses was very simple and adapted to its functions. The peasant house had 1-3 rooms, which determined a certain scheme of the furniture, depending of the other inner elements. This scheme is common for all Romanian houses – the furniture is placed near the walls and some pieces are hanged on the walls.
The interior of the temporary lodgments, such as sheepfolds, (where an ancient scheme of the furniture still exists) shows us the way furniture was placed inside the traditional houses.
Some pieces were initially fixed between the girders, on the ceiling or on the floor. The furniture took natural shapes – for example the chairs were made of tree trunks, the arms and the legs being made of arched branches.
The characteristic of the Romanian furniture is the simplicity of the shapes and the diversity of decorations. The preoccupation for ornaments is very important even here.
The furniture was usually made of wood. In Southern Romania clay furniture was also used (beds, benches). The furniture is usually sculpted, but in Transylvania, where Western influences are more intense, the painted furniture can also be found. The most used painted decorations are the floral motifs. In the case of the sculpted furniture, found in Moldavia and Walachia, the motifs are the traditional ones: straight lines, points, spirals, crosses, firs and rarely, human figures.
The main furniture pieces were the bed, the table, the chairs, the “lavite”, the “blidare”, the corner (“coltar”), the boards (“polite”), the “culme” and the dowry chest.
The “Lavite”
The “lavite” (long simple benches, without a back rest), made of oak or beech wood, are the oldest pieces of furniture and they are largely used through out Romania. Most times they aren’t decorated. They were fixed on the girders of the walls. Beginning with the second half of the 19th century, the “lavite” were replaced first in Transylvania and then in the rest of the country with long benches, having a back rest (sometimes painted) and a chest beneath, for keeping the clothes or even for sleeping.
The Bed
In the traditional house, the most important place from a decorative point of view was the corner where the bed was placed (opposite to the hearth). This was mainly due to the textiles found here and not necessarily to the furniture. Near the bed, along the walls, “lavite” and later benches were placed.
The bed, as a piece of furniture with a special shape, appeared later, in the 18th century and originated in “lavita”.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, in Transylvania, in the houses with a room and a pantry (the simplest plan), the bed was situated near the hearth. In the opposite corner two “lavite” with a table in front were placed.
In the houses with two rooms and “tinda”, in the clean room there are two beds. The second one is placed in the corner with “lavite”. In front of the beds (placed parallel, along the walls), there are two benches. Between them, near the wall opposite to the door, there is the table.
In Moldavia, the beds follow the same scheme, but they are lower. Here there are no benches.
In Southern and Western Romania, the benches, covered with felt, are placed angularly, on two or three of the sides of the room and they are used as beds. Apart them, in Walachia the earthen beds can also be found. Their width allows sleeping with the feet towards the stove.
Beside the beds with seats, of city origin, introduced in the peasant house at the end of 19th century, several types of beds appear in the ancient houses. The most similar shaped to the “lavita” is the one with the legs stuck into the ground.
In Transylvania, the bed is taller and it can be reached using the bench in front of it, used as a stair.
In Northern Moldavia, an original bed can be found. It hangs, fixed between the girders of the walls and sustained by a pillar richly carved.
Another type of bed, seldom found, has tall pillars at the ends, reminding by shape and decorations of the Renaissance bed.
The “Culme” (apex)
The “culme” is an ancient traditional element, characteristic for the entire Romania. The “culme” is a wooden bar, fixed on two girders of the ceiling, above the bed or around the stove. It can still be seen today in Moldavia and some regions of Transylvania and Walachia.
Used in the beginning in practical purposes, for drying or hanging the clothes, the “culme” had later only a decorative purpose.
The Table
The table, with various shapes and decorations, depending of the region and time, is found in all peasant houses.
In Moldavia and Transylvania, the table is tall, rectangular and has three legs. In Northern Moldavia the table has a flap. A chest for aliments is found beneath. The tables from Northern Moldavia, richly sculpted, are beautiful.
In Southern Transylvania, the Germanic type of table was used. It was characteristic for the Gothic age of Central Europe and it had a drawer beneath.
In Walachia and Moldavia, it is used the small round table, having three or four legs, of Eastern and Balkan influence. Rarely decorated, this is usually placed near the hearth. It can be moved, beared against a wall, or taken in the “tinda”.
The Chairs
The chair types are various.
The low chairs can be found all over Romania, but mostly in the south.
The long backed chairs, with a simple carved decoration, can be found especially in the south of Transylvania. They replaced the “lavite” or the benches in front of the tall beds, at the end of the 19th century.
The Furniture Hanged On the Walls
The pieces of furniture hanged on the walls (“polite”, pegs, “blidare”, “coltare”) played a very important role and were used for keeping the domestic and decorative pottery.
The “polite” were planks attached on the walls, either above doors and windows, either on one of the girders of the ceiling, either directly on the wall. They had the edges richly sculpted and played a function similar to the cityish peg.
In Transylvania, pegs for pots and pitchers are hanged by nogs, under the girders.
In “blidare” (small opened chests made of sculpted beech wood) the pottery is kept. They are usually placed near the hearth, because contain the objects used for alimentation.
“The coltar” is a case with a special shape, with a triangular section, fixed in a corner of the room, usually in the one where the “lavite” are placed. In Transylvania, the “coltare” are decorated and in Moldavia they are simple.
The Dowry Chest
For a long time, in the dowry chest clothes and aliments were kept. It had an important place, being situated at the end of the bed or on the “lavita”.
The dowry chests are made of beech, oak or ash wood, having various shapes and a rich, original decoration.
The dowry chest is the finest decorated piece of the furniture. Excepting the ones from Brasov region, which are painted, the dowry chests were sculpted. The motifs are diverse, usually geometrical – circles, rhomboids, jags, squares, triangles – but also flowers, firs or the solar symbol. | |
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