Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Beautiful Romanian Embroidery

The Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest houses a superb collection of garments, farm and household items collected from all over Romania. I was particularly dazzled by the incredible examples of embroidery. The time and care that have gone into making these creations is evident and impressive. The people who embroidered these items worked very hard during the day but still found the energy to create beauty. They certainly have my respect and appreciation.















They also found time to decorate eggs in magnificent designs and colors:


An elaborately beaded wedding apron; one of many for sale in the museum's gift shop:


Ann a few other memorable items....Wow! What a hat!


I love these chairs and would like to make one myself someday:


Beautiful hand-painted bowls in lovely colors:


2 comments:

  1. Martha -- I'm a masters student in Textile History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For a course I'm taking this summer, I'm writing a paper on Romanian embroidered clothing. My late uncle, Donald Dunham, wrote a dissertation on Romanian folk art for his doctorate at the University of Bucharest. (He was then serving as Vice Consul at the US Consulate just after WWII) Tho written in the late 1940's, it was published in 1999 as a book called Romanian Profile. I'll be using material found there -- but as you might imagine, the photos are all black and white. May I have permission to use your beautiful pictures in my paper? Sincerely, Susan Stanley (susanpdx@aol.com)

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  2. Dear Susan,
    I'm more than happy to give you permission to use the photos for your paper. Would you please include a credit somewhere in your paper for both the photographer (me) and the museum (Museum of the Romanian Peasant)? You have quite an interesting historical link to Romanian folk art and I'm delighted to learn your uncle was so moved by the art as to write a dissertation on the subject.

    Best wishes,
    Martha

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