Discover the World of Pisanki, or Polish Easter Eggs
The colourful Polish tradition of making ‘pisanki’, or Easter eggs, is more or less a thousand years old. There are dozens of regional varieties, and the most outstanding specimens are exhibited in museums or held by private collectors.
The 1,000-year-old Easter egg
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A traditional ‘pen’ for making Easter eggs, photo: Wojciech Pacewicz / PAP
In Polish, Easter eggs are called pisanki (‘peace-AHN-keeh’), which comes from the verb pisać, or ‘to write’. In an old-school process for making the festive objects, you use a special ‘pen’ to apply liquid wax, which makes it look a bit like you’re writing something on an eggshell. Here’s how the ethnographer Kazimierz Moszyński describes the entire procedure – called the batik technique – in his 1967 book Kultura Ludowa Słowian (Slavic Folk Culture):
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The ornaments are drawn on the colourless surface of an egg with wax. Then, the egg that has been inscribed in this manner is put into a (cold or warm) solution of colourant. After a while, when the colourant has dyed the eggshell well enough, the egg is taken out and heated, so that the wax may be removed. This way, you get a light decoration on a coloured background.
The ‘pen’ in this process may be an ordinary needle or pin. You can also use a special utensil crafted from a small stick, with a narrow tip made from a metal shoelace aglet. The colourants are traditionally of plant origin: Onion peels are used for the colour red, rye sprouts for green, beetroot juice for pink, apple-tree bark for yellow and so on.
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Exhibits at the Museum of Opole Silesia, in the image you can see the Easter eggs from the site at Ostrówek, photo: Rafał Mielnik / AG
While the batik technique is still practiced today, it is Poland’s oldest way of decorating pisanki. The earliest existing Easter eggs decorated and dyed in this fashion – dating back to between the 10th and 13th centuries – have been found by archaeologists at the site of the former mediaeval Slavic stronghold of Ostrówek. The ‘eggs’ from this site, however, were not real, but man-made from clay and limestone. Today, they can be seen at the Museum of Opole Silesia.
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Yes – in Poland, Easter eggs (and not just ancient, artificial ones) are considered important enough to be exhibited in a museum. Before we delve further into the place of pisanki in Polish culture, let’s find out a little more about the creation of these unique objects.
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Genowefa Sztukowska, folk artist and Easter egg creator, removes the wax from an Easter egg by heating it, photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum
Pisanki are made from chicken, duck and goose eggs. Recently, ones made from ostrich eggs have begun to appear, but these are still encountered more rarely. The eggs can be blown (carefully emptied out of their contents, leaving the shell intact) or hardboiled. There are also other artificial Easter eggs. These can be made from decorated wood, for instance, or even such eyebrow-raising materials as Styrofoam and felt. But for simplicity's sake, let’s stick with Easter eggs made from actual eggs.
There are a number of traditional ways to decorate pisanki, rooted in folk traditions. Aside from the batik technique, the pickling technique also involves the use of wax. In this method, the egg is first coloured in a solution – and only later covered with a wax pattern. Afterwards, it’s placed in a pickling liquid, which cleans off the dye in the spots left uncovered by the wax. This way, after you remove the wax, you’re left with a coloured decoration on a light background. As with the batik technique, this process can be repeated with the same egg and different dyes in order to produce a single, multi-coloured pisanka.
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Kroszonka or a Silesian Easter egg made using the stylus technique, photo Edwin Remsburg / VW Pics via Getty Images
Another way to make an Easter egg is to lightly scratch it with a stylus:
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The next group are eggs adorned using the stylus technique, most of which come from the Opole Silesia region, where they’re called ‘kroszonki’ ['crow-SHAWN-key’]. They are first dyed […] and later adorned with meticulous patterns, usually floral ones, that are delicately carved out on their surface. These patterns have often been complemented by special inscriptions, such as ‘this egg is a thank you for your sweet kiss’, etc.
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From the website of the National Museum of Farming in Szreniawa, trans. MK
Around the town of Łowicz, in Central Poland, it is customary to glue cut-outs made from coloured paper onto blown eggs. Boasting various lively colours, these are maintained in the local decorative folk style, featuring stylised rooster and flower motifs. Gluing is also employed in the Kurpie region, which is about an hour’s drive north of Warsaw. In this area, the inner parts of a reed’s stem (white) as well as threads (red and green) are glued onto an eggshell in order to form waving patterns and curves.
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An Easter egg-making workshop at the Musuem of Pomeranian Folk Culture in Swołowo – gluing a reed’s stem onto an eggshell, photo: Gerard / Reporter / East News
Near the city of Chełm in Eastern Poland, Easter eggs are often adorned with motifs shaped after Easter palms, fir branches and crosses – with yellow, green and pink being among the most popular tones. Then again, the pisanki from the regions of Opoczno in Central Poland usually sport straight or wavy lines, as well as windmills. These are maintained in a dual colour scheme, with light decorations on dark backgrounds. There are dozens of such regional variations.
Of course, there are also less traditional methods of creating pisanki, such as painting them with acrylic paint. Others go for a more elaborate look, adorning their Easter eggs with amber jewellery. Some feel the urge to be high-tech and use a precision drill to make meticulously crafted openwork Easter eggs. The number of varieties just goes to show the popularity that pisanki enjoy in Poland.
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Łowicz-style Easter eggs, photo: Michał Tuliński / Forum
Intriguingly, the origins of Easter eggs predate Easter itself. As early as pre-Christian times, people dyed eggs at the beginning of spring in order to celebrate the reawakening of nature after its long winter sleep. The egg, a symbol of life to come, was adorned with decorations reminiscent of nature’s fertility, such as plant or solar motifs.
Over time, the ancient tradition and its aesthetic became part of Christianity’s most important holiday, revolving around Jesus’ overcoming of death. Here’s how the Brama Grodzka – NN Theatre website devoted to culture describes traditional pisanki embellishments:
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One notices plant motifs: branches, little trees, flowers, as well as astro-morphic depictions – stars, but also various forms of solar symbols […]. All of these draw upon cosmogonic meanings (the tree of life), and point to the egg’s symbolic role in restoring life after the winter phase of death.
Certain magical properties were also once ascribed to Easter eggs. For example, it was believed that washing yourself with the water they were boiled in would ensure good health. A pisanka could also be placed in the foundation of a building in order to guard it against evil forces.
Playing with painted eggs
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Oskar Kolberg’s ‘Chełmskie’ pt. 1, photo: reprodukcja Dagmara Smolna
The oldest mention of Easter eggs in Polish literature comes from the Chronica Polonorum, a 13th-century history of Poland by Wincenty Kadłubek. The text tells of a curious game played with pisanki – and also of the reportedly capricious character of Poles themselves:
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Since the olden days, Poles have always been envious and have played with their lords as if with painted eggs.
The eminent ethnographer Oskar Kolberg explains the nature of this game in his 1890 book Chełmskie (The Chełm Region):
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In the afternoon on Easter Day, the boys and girls walk around the village, boasting about the beauty of their Easter eggs (these are eggs boiled in paint and skilfully adorned with various colours). Then, they take them out of their pockets and check which egg is stronger. They strike one against the other, turning them upside down, and the owner of the stronger egg may take the weaker, cracked one.
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Ms Justyna Goleń presenting her openwork Easter eggs in the town of Poniatowa, photo: Wojciech Pacewicz / PAP
Whereas the described game was a coeducational one, the creation of Easter eggs was the domain of women. To avoid inviting bad luck, men weren’t even allowed to enter the room where pisanki were being prepared. When a girl found a particular bachelor worthy of interest, however, she would let him know by giving him a nice painted egg on Easter Monday.
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Easter eggs adorned with jewellery by Jan Kaliński, from an exhibition at CH Manufaktura, Łódź, photo: Michał Kazmierczak / Forum
As soon as the Interwar period, the abovementioned customs and beliefs had generally ceased to be practised. But that doesn’t mean that pisanki themselves were forgotten. Their persisting liveliness is evidenced, among other things, by the large number of cultural events they remain linked to in Poland.
For example, in 2017, the Museum of Kurpie Culture in Ostrołęka hosted a workshop on how to make a traditional Easter egg using the batik technique. In the month leading up to Easter, the National Museum of Farming in Szreniawa hosts an annual exhibition to showcase its impressive collection of 600 mostly traditional pisanki.
A somewhat more modern take on the subject is presented, also annually before the holiday, at the Manufaktura shopping centre in Łódź. There, you can see exhibits of ostrich Easter eggs designed by such noted artists as the sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz, or Jan Kaliński, who adorns his pisanki with retro jewellery referencing the famed Fabergé eggs.
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Easter eggs can also be encountered in numerous Polish households, where they help foster a holiday atmosphere. Some, like the Warsaw-based businesswoman Danuta Kamińska, have entire, almost museum-grade collections. She shares:
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Danuta Kamińska’s collection of Easter eggs, photo: Romuald Kępa
Easter eggs can also be encountered in numerous Polish households, where they help foster a holiday atmosphere. Some, like the Warsaw-based businesswoman Danuta Kamińska, have entire, almost museum-grade collections. She shares:
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Each year before the holidays, Easter fairs are held, and each year, I can’t help myself and purchase new items for my collection. I have well over 100 Easter eggs, and no two are the same, although the decoration techniques do repeat themselves. Most of them are true, miniature masterpieces; they’re really beautiful and take a lot of effort to make – that’s why I collect them. On top of that, they’re very delicate, since most of them are made of blown eggs. Before Easter, I put them out on large plates, and they serve as part of the house’s holiday decorations.
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Each Easter, pisanki complement the holiday tables and homes around which many Polish families congregate. Not only a characteristic element of the holiday, they are part of a long tradition that goes back for centuries – one that only stands to continue and grow.
How will you decorate your pisanki this year?
Written by Marek Kępa, Apr 2019
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