A historic manor house in the picturesque town of Ciechanowieec, Poland, has an extraordinary collection of Easter eggs from all over the world. The Easter Egg Museum is part of the Kluk Pastor Krzysztof Agricultural Museum, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year – it has been on the Polish Museum Map since April 3, 2004.
The museum's houses painted eggs from all seven continents, including Polish Easter eggs called “Pisanki” and its various international iterations. Here, visitors can learn about the history of craftsmanship and become familiar with the different techniques adopted by craftsmen of different folk traditions.
2,752 Easter eggs, it's more than that!
“Currently, we have collected 2,752 Easter eggs totally. We are proud of all these eggs because there is a story behind every Easter egg,” Martyna Gieros of the Ethnographic Department of the Easter Egg Museum and the Agricultural Museum said in an interview with EuroNews.
The origins of the series can be traced back to the private collections of several married collectors – Irena Stasiewicz-Jasiukowa, professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Warsaw, and Jerzy Jasiuk, longtime director of the Warsaw Museum of Technology.
“Both are with Ciechanowieec-Jerzy as a long-time member of the Museum’s Science Committee, and Irena has a scientific interest in the figure of Father Krzysztof Kluk, the sponsor of the institution. After collecting Easter eggs and introducing them in a temporary exhibition, they decided to donate 1,000 copies of Cia Mechanawieec at the exhibition, and they decided to donate 1,000 copies.
The Jasiuks have collected Easter eggs on holiday trips, research and study trips for more than 30 years.
From a tiny African Finch egg to an ostrich egg
The Ciechanowieec Museum’s collection includes not only traditional Easter eggs, made on chickens, ducks or pebbles, but also many rare eggs. The series includes Easter eggs made on eggs from peacocks, swans, storks, and even ostrichs, penguins and EMU. Visitors are particularly interested in the miniature eggs of African finch and parrots, which is a real challenge for creators who decorate them with surprising details.
One of the most unusual Easter eggs in the series is the penguin egg brought back from Antarctica. Although it has been painted in Poland, the fact that it merely possesses such a rare exhibition is unique. The collection also includes Easter eggs made from other materials – including wooden eggs, as well as some made from semi-precious stones.
Poppy seeds, gobeast and apple seeds
The egg decoration techniques represented in the museum are as diverse as the exhibits themselves. Visitors can appreciate Easter eggs made using the batik method (written in wax), engraved and scratched designs (designs with scratches), coated with oil, acrylic and poster paint, and decorated using open-ended techniques that involve cutting the design directly into the shell.
Typically, traditional techniques for egg decoration include the use of natural “decoration”. “Our Easter eggs are covered with natural cereals including poppy seeds, Semolina, pasta or apple seeds,” said Martyna Gieros. The collection also includes works decorated with colorful yarns, cucumber seeds, rice or buckwheat seeds.
“Pisanki” from the collection of the K. Kluk Agricultural Museum in Ciechanowiec. – Artur Warchala
From Kurpi to Africa and Bali to Antarctica – Easter eggs from all continents
Ciechanowiec's museum comes from exhibitions almost all over the world. In addition to the “Pisanki” from various regions of Poland (including Podlasie, Kurpie, Kashubia and Podhale), the series also includes traditional Slavic Easter eggs from Ukraine, Russia and the Czech Republic.
However, the series' geographical coverage is well beyond Europe, including examples from China, Japan, Kenya, Indonesia, Australia and many other countries.
“Tourists come from Poland and around the world. They also bring their own little artwork to us. So the series is not only related to Polish Easter eggs – we exhibits from almost all continents,” the museum's employees emphasized.
The museum’s popularity has led to an increasing number of artists looking to include their Easter eggs in the series. “Museums are already so well known that many people have heard of them. Of course, we can't take everything. We made the choices and chose the most interesting works. The production technology is important to us, and most importantly we try to collect traditional technology,” explains Martyna Gieros.
Starting from left: Bali, Indonesia, the artist is unknown; Melbourne, Australia, the artist is unknown; Easter eggs from K. Kluk Agricultural Museum in Ciechanowiec. – Artur Warchala
Easter eggs, an ancient folk form
Although today we associate egg decorations primarily with Christian traditions and Easter, they date back to earlier times. Researchers at the University of Cambridge claimed that eggs were first decorated in southern Africa 60 thousand years ago.
The custom of decorating eggs is also related to sun worship, which symbolizes the sun and light. Some of the oldest dyed eggs come from Sumer Mesopotamia, from which they are used to spread throughout the Mediterranean.
In 3000 BC, dyed ostrich eggs were found in Egypt. The tradition of painting eggs was eventually adopted by various cultures, including Persia, which was later adopted by Christians, combining them with symbols of resurrection and the Easter holiday.
In Slavic culture, this tradition is associated with Jare Gody's pagan holiday, celebrating the end of winter. During this time, Slavs exchanged dyed eggs on Jare Gody's day.
“When sowing the fields, amulets in the form of eggs are also used – sowingers will put them in their pockets or sprinkle them on the fields. These practices are used in various parts of Europe, not only in Poland,” Martyna Gieros told Euronews.
But eggs are not only very important in the agricultural tradition.
Once, people believed that eggs were a symbol of new life and could emit the energy that gave life. In many parts of the world, it is placed in the coffin of the dead, calling new life into it – although worldly life is over, somewhere there lasts a second person, and eggs will also be associated with the stock of spring. At that time, it was in that person's life.
Interestingly, in the Slavs, the art of decorating Easter eggs or kraszanki (characterized by their simple dyeing into uniform colors) is a unique task. The girls prepare them for them to be offered to the boys later as “redemption” and protect them from being flooded on Easter Monday.
Easter Egg Museums around the world
Ciechanowiec's Easter Egg Museum, while unique, is not the only place in the world with such a collection. Similar institutions exist in Ukraine (the famous Easter Egg Museum in Coloria), which is located in shape like a giant Easter egg), Russia, Hungary, Canada and several other places in Poland, and Easter eggs are part of the Great Ethnographic Collection.
But Ciechanowiec's museum stands out for its comprehensive approach to the subject, collecting exhibitions from around the world and documenting a variety of techniques and traditions associated with this fascinating aspect of folk art.
For lovers of ethnography and Easter traditions, visiting the Easter Egg Museum in Ciechanowiec is an extraordinary journey. It shows how universal and culturally rich the customs of egg decoration are – one of the oldest expressions of human creativity, uniting communities throughout the world.
