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The textiles, manufactured in the own household, have a very important role in the traditional house – they are the most important decorative elements. Placed on the walls, on the furniture, on the “culme” or at the gilder, they have various styles, characteristic for each ethnographical region.
In the ancient times, Herodotus, the Greek historian, said that the fineness of the Dacian textiles can be compared to the one of the Roman ones.
The spinning and weaving crafts have an old tradition. The horizontal loom is known from the beginning of the 11th century.
Materials
The textiles are made of the raw materials from the household. They have animal (sheep wool, goat hair, raw silk) or vegetal (hemp, cotton, linen) origin. The use of one type of material doesn’t mean that the others are excluded. Many textiles are made of both animal and vegetal materials.
Silk, beads and trumpery are also used, for decoration purposes.
Manufacturing and Colors
The textiles are only made by women, who grow hemp and linen, cut the sheep wool, prepare the fibers, weave and paint them, cut and decorate the cloth.
In the beginning, the colors were natural, being obtained of roots, stems and flowers or insects. Women knew the properties of each plant and insect, the best moment for culling them and the operations that had to be done in order to obtain the desired intensity of the color.
In time, the naturally obtained colors began to be more and more rare. After World War I, the using of chemical colors produced a change in the textile coloring.
Red is the most used color, appearing in a wide variety of tones and shades. It is followed by blue and black.
Use
Textiles are used for domestic purposes, (usually placed on the bed or on the dowry chest) and for decorative purposes.
There are also textiles which are only used on special occasions, being related to various ceremonies (birth, wedding, funeral).
Decorative Textiles
In Moldavia, Walachia and Dobrogea woolen textiles are mainly used for decorating the peasant house. Though, a “stergar” or a table cover may appear here and then. In Transylvania the most spread textiles are made of hempen and cotton.
The most important decorative textiles of the Romanian traditional art are the woolen rugs and carpets. The carpets are made of tied lathes, woven at the vertical loom. The rugs instead are woven at the horizontal loom and are thinner than the carpets.
Carpets and rugs are placed on the walls, on the bed or are even used as a table cover. They are very valuable and are transmitted as dowry, from one generation to another.
The oldest carpets are called “paretare” or “laicere”. They are placed on the walls, near the bed and “lavite”. They don’t have only a decorative purpose, being also meant to maintain temperature inside the house. The “laicere” are composed of a single piece, of various lengths, covering three of the walls of the peasant room. The Moldavian “laicere”, decorated with green, brown and yellow strips are the most beautiful ones.
In time, the initial decoration, obtained by alternating the various colored strips, became more and more complicated. The “paretar” also became wider, being composed of two or three pieces attached one to the other. This way the rugs and carpets were obtained.
Carpets and rugs, richly and variously decorated, are used for covering the bed, the wall, the “culme” or even for covering people.
In the beginning, the geometrical motifs (straight lines, rhombs and crosses) were predominant. In time, new motifs and a border that surrounds the main area appeared. The flowers, birds, horses and humans from Oltenia rugs give birth to a fairy world. The decorations have oriental influences, which arrived on these lands especially by means of regnant courts.
The Walachia and Moldavia carpets and rugs have bigger sizes, while the Maramures ones are smaller.
The Oltenia rugs and carpets are the most valuable, being decorated with geometrical, floral, animal and human motifs. For Oltenia rugs, the border plays a special role. It surrounds the central part and emphasizes its decorative value. A common motif is represented by the local birds – the hoopoe, the cuckoo, the hen, the duck, the goose and the turkey. Another common motif is represented by the dolls.
The colors are warm – brown, cherry, light green, blue ultramarine.
The Muntenia rugs and carpets have mainly geometrical decorations, consisting especially of rhomboidal motifs.
The Moldavia rugs and carpets have fader colors – light green, cherry and black and vegetal decorations. The main motif is the life tree. Specific to Moldavia are the “laicere”.
In Transylvania, the most famous carpets are found in Maramures region. They are decorated with geometrical motifs, flowers, firs, animals, humans, work scenes, tools etc. Men and women holding hands in a round dance can often be found. The main color is brown, which appears in various shades.
Other decorative textiles are the “stergare”, placed on the walls, near the pots (in Transylvania), or near the window (in Moldavia). They are loom woven and are made of linen, hemp, cotton or raw silk. The decorations are mainly geometrical, but they can also be floral, animal or human. Sometimes women with small umbrellas, knights or Turkish men holding yathagans appear on the textiles.
The table covers, with geometrical or floral decorations, are very beautiful.
At the pillow cases, the composition is organized around a central motif, surrounded by a border.
Domestic Textiles
By their shape, colors and decorations, the bags and pouches indicate the village of the owner. In Maramures, Sibiu and northern Moldavia, they are made of fine wool. In Arges and Jiu Counties, they are made of goat hair. | |
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