The elements that give heritage value to painted Saxon furniture

Modelling and style (modelling techniques, shapes, colours, ornaments, symbols and inscriptions)

The process of making painted furniture is a complex one that requires in the first phase woodworking using specific techniques and in the second phase wood painting techniques.

The technique of shaping wood is not a new one, it dates back to ancient times. Beginning with the Middle Ages, wood was processed using only two techniques: one specific to carpenters and one specific to woodworkers. The first technique involves the joining of pieces in the system 'blade and shingle', being made of cracked planks, cut with the saw, carved with the axe and the chisel and concluded in shingles and shingles fixed in wooden nails (Olaru, 2014), the wood was worked by carving. The carpenters' technique was based on the cutting and jointing of wood (in the dovetail or right-hand joint), the craftsmen used an inventory of more sophisticated tools and implements, and the pieces of furniture were mainly made of softwood - resinous wood. We can appreciate that furniture made by carpenters was more refined.

Colour plays an important role in defining the traditional style. The need for colour decoration has existed throughout the history of mankind, only the possibilities of access to it differed according to social strata (Capesius, R., 1974). The polychromy consists of one or more layers of paint, with or without a primer coat, which covers different elements entirely or partially in order to provide them a finishing or a decoration (García and Martínez, 2001). The study of polychrome elements involves: identification of different materials (pigments, binders, varnishes etc.), characterization of painting techniques, determination of historical context, dating, provenience and estimation of authenticity, the study of alterations, assessment of modifications (repainting, previous restorations etc.) (Cabré et al. 2008).

The Saxons are the only ones in Romania to have created a special vernacular architecture based on colour (Stupariu-Pătru, I.; Paşcu, M.; Burgi, M, 2019). Unlike the Romanians, Hungarians, Jews and other ethnic groups who lived together in Romania, the Saxons were the only ones who used colour for the exterior decoration of the fronts of their houses. On the other hand, the colour was used by all ethnic groups to decorate folk costumes and household textiles. Unlike fabric colouring, wood staining was more difficult to achieve because the durability of the paints was achieved by more complicated and expensive processes. The use of colour by the Saxons in furniture painting was influenced, for example, in the second half of the 18th century by the influence of the Rococo style, which was characterised by a reduction in the intensity of colour.

Ornamentation and symbolism

Originally, the furniture was simply ornate, made by local craftsmen who, (Diaconescu, A, 2002; www.muzeulastra.com , www.cimec.ro) until the 17th century, strove to improve and improve on the primary functional types. At first, ornamental compositions were dominated by traditional plant motifs (acanthus leaves, pomegranate flowers) which, in the 18th century, gave way to the more precious flowers of peasant gardens (rose, tulip, lily, carnation).

In the ornamentation and symbolism of painted furniture, the Sienese craftsmen borrowed from the repertoire of Renaissance motifs, adapting them to the decorative background of Baroque and later Classicism. The most beautiful pieces of Saxon furniture, however, date from the 16th century. The most beautiful pieces of furniture date from the 17th-19th centuries, being attributed to the peasant baroque style, as they abound in shapes and colours. The most important decorative motifs were embodied in signs or symbols of ancient beliefs, legends or myths of mankind. The sun symbols, the tree of life, the image of man and the horse are the oldest graphic expressions (Indrie, L. et all, 2020). In the evolution of ornamental symbolism, circumscribed by popular creation, it benefited from the Byzantine influence and the European cultural currents expressed in the period of the late Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo resulting in an important number of famous motifs: the tree of life, the character with the umbrella, the great Nordic goddess, the mermaid, the bird. These are in addition to local themes: variants of the tree of life, sun signs, the serpent and the dragon, the horse, anthropomorphic images" (Petrescu, P .1971). The Rococo style became dominant in decoration at the end of the 18th century with its specified motifs - the rosette, the spiral and the flower horn (Stoica, G.,1973.), and in the Baroque period some pieces of furniture contained architectural elements, landscapes or even anthropomorphic representations. The dominance of symbols and motifs on furniture can be seen as a continuous recycling of ideas or knowledge from the past, which means a mixture of old and new ideas, i.e., tradition and innovation (Lungu, A, et all, 2022).

Theo Zelgy made a comparison between the furniture painted by the Transylvanian Saxons and that made in Germany in the 14th century and points out that the first furniture was made under the influence of the late Gothic style, and that from the 16th century onwards the first Renaissance forms and decorations appeared. The oldest Transylvanian caskets bear the characteristic decoration of old German furniture: sun wheel, spiral, tree of life, S-shape, coiled snake, fantastic animals.

The trade in objects from the Orient influenced the range of ornaments and symbols painted by the Saxon craftsmen by borrowing and assimilating other exotic plant motifs, which were taken from expensive brocade fabrics.

Analysing the pieces of furniture preserved in private and museum collections, it was found that the ornamental compositions differed from one area to another, from one centre to another, the folk craftsmen who made painted furniture to order, took into account a whole series of particular elements such as the size of the room and the taste of the client, the ornamentation being thus framed in the style of local folk art (Sutură,V, 1989) .

The 18th-19th century painted furniture pieces introduce new ornaments such as landscapes, landscapes with houses, churches and fortresses, trees, a popular "naive" representation of the environment, without perspective and proportionality (Capesius, R., 1974). The drawing is simple, the buildings are white or yellowish and the roofs are brick. These landscape representations correspond to a decorative fashion, found in almost all countries, where furniture painting is practised. For example, on a cabinet from 1821 preserved in the museum in Buneștii we find a landscape with houses, tower, road and foreground of poplars with leaves, attributed to the folk craftsman Johanes Tehlman from Saschiz.

On another cabinet that was also preserved at the same museum, we find a fruit panel - a watermelon, a pear, a grape and four apples. From the 18th to the 20th century, several pieces of painted Saxon furniture have been preserved (chairs, benches, cabinets, cupboards, chest of drawers).

Modelling features

As regards the origins of this folk art, specialist studies have shown that the technique of painted furniture does not originate strictly in Transylvania, it does not belong exclusively to the peasant communities of the Transylvanian Saxons, it did not develop in isolation but is part of a wider cultural trend (Capesius, R., 1974) which had a significant geographical distribution at European level, being found also in Southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, the Baltic States (Capesius, R., 1974). In the Middle Ages the population migrated a lot from one region to another, cultural influences circulated from one social group to another, including the Transylvanian Saxons.

However, the characteristics of wood carving and the making of painted furniture by Transylvanian Saxons varied in time and space. Thus the tradition of painted furniture becomes the fruit of a continuous evolution on a European scale, practically the Saxon craftsmen improved and perfected their technique according to the influences and trends of the time, to which they also brought their own contribution through personal additions (Capesius,R., 1974). Thus, a number of common elements appear in terms of the way of ornamenting pieces of furniture by taking over and adapting foreign folk heritage and adding elements of local specificity.

Given the fact that the Transylvanian Saxon communities differ from each other, each village, town has its own dialect, folk costume, folk songs and dances, coat of arms, this characteristic is also found in the technique of painted furniture. The regional differences focus on the use of background colours, symbols and emblematic ornaments for the respective communities. In this way, the Saxon communities expressed their desire to personalise their household furniture. It could be said that almost every area, every valley had its own style and its own colouring (Carpesius, R., 1974).

The presence of floral ornaments can be interpreted as a common element but the same floral ornament is found in a different form and style from one area to another.

When we talk about heritage objects such as painted furniture, we have to point out that folk artists produced a wide range of painted furniture for different purposes such as for churches (religious furniture, pews), for the bourgeoisie and for peasants.

It is worth mentioning that in all the micro-regions of Transylvania there was an active participation in the composition, colouring and composition of secular and church furniture, each Saxon community contributed to the enrichment of this cultural heritage.

The uniqueness and authenticity of this Saxon tradition with heritage values is given by the skill in which the craftsmen introduced some stylized local cultural peculiarities into the style and composition of the painted furniture (ornamentation, colour, symbolism, wood species, shape, structure).

References

Diaconescu, A. (2002).  Lăzile de zestre pictate în interioarele tradiţionale ţărăneşti din Transilvania, în Moşteniri culturale, Muzeul Etnografic Reghin, 2002, p. 7. 193

Indrie, L.; Zlatev, Z.; Ilie¸s, D.C.; Sturza, A.; Dochia, M.; Gozner, M.; Herman, G.; Caciora, T. Implementation of image processing techniques as a tool for form analysis of Romanian folk elements. Ind. Text. 2020, 71, 492–498. [CrossRef]

Lungu, A.; Androne, A.; Gurau, L.; Racasan, S.; Cosereanu, C. Textile heritage motifs to decorative furniture surfaces. Transpose process and analysis. J. Cult. Herit. 2021, 52, 192–201. [CrossRef]

Pătru-Stupariu, I.; Pascu, M.; Bürgi, M. Exploring Tangible and Intangible Heritage and its Resilience as a Basis to Understand the Cultural Landscapes of Saxon Communities in Southern Transylvania (Romania). Sustainability 2019, 11, 3102. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113102

Petrescu, P. Motive decorative celebre. Bucureşti, 1971.

Stoica, G. (1973). Interiorul locuinţei ţărăneşti, Editura Meridiane, București.

Sutură, V. (1989).Străvechi mărturii de civilizaţie românească, Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 1989, p. 333 .