what can you tell me about this decoration from poland?
Thanks to Deb’s collection of Polish Pottery, I decided to check out the Polish Pottery Place at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The pottery was gorgeous, but I couldn’t stop staring at these colorful paper floral arrangements they had hanging from the ceiling. (Click here for a closer look.) The clerk was actually from Poland, but she couldn’t place them — they were marked as coming from South Central Poland, and she explained that each region is very specialized so she wasn’t familiar with the significance. All I know is, they’d look lovely as a summer decoration. (Although they were a bit pricey for me at $57 so I didn’t take one home.) Can anyone tell me more about these? –Mary T.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:56 am
You’re right, they do look like they’d be a fun summery decoration! Although, a little bit of googling seems to indicate that they are traditionally used as a Christmas decoration. I’m not really finding any definitive explanation to link you to, but they are apparently called “pajaki”. (If you want to google the term yourself, be aware that the literal translation is “spider”!) The best description I could find was actually on a mail-order site, http://www.polandbymail.com — which I’ll paste here to save you the trouble:
“Pajaki - The literal translation is “spiders of straw”. Located 90 kilometers from Warsaw the town of Lowicz and surrounding villages comprise the center of what many consider to be Poland’s most colorful folk region. A typical village house from this area was full of colored flower paintings, fancy paper cut-outs and mobiles made of straw and colored paper. The mobiles or pajaki are delicate creations hand made by the women and girls of the villages as decorations for their homes. The finest examples of this folk art from the 19th and 20th centuries can be found in the local museum located in the town square.”
June 4th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Oh, a little clarification; “pajaki” is plural. Just one is a “pajak.”
June 4th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Thanks so much for the info! You obviously have superior Google skills because I tried and couldn’t find anything!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:19 am
No problem! Yeah, some people think I have mad internetting skillz.