What is the name of the decoration of a rural house? Let's try to understand

Now most of us live in the city, and if we go to the village, it is very rare and, as they say, on big holidays. No wonder that we do not even know the name of the decoration of a rural house. And from where, in general, to get such information to those who were born and grew up among high-rise buildings and asphalt?

Although, of course, this is not entirely correct. We should not forget about the traditions and culture of our ancestors.

Today we will try to explain as much as possible how the decoration of the rural house is called, highlighting the most basic elements of the decor: platbands, various figures, peculiar windows and characteristic features of some nationalities.

Section 1. Unusual country houses of the world

Most likely, most of us do not even know about the existence in Sweden of such a small area as Helsingland, bordering the Gulf of Bothnia. What is so special about him? The thing is that the village is famous for nothing more than an impressive number of wooden rural houses that are decorated in the traditional style of the 19th century.

Historians argue that in those days, farmers with high social status, who wanted to demonstrate their prosperity, tried to build buildings as much as possible. That is, the status in society could be fully determined by the size of the house.

Surprisingly, all this has been preserved to this day, glorifying the modest town, because there are no analogues of such masterpieces of architecture in the world.

In the 18-19 centuries, farmers managed to make a considerable fortune largely due to the fertility of the soil. With money, they built houses, which were then decorated in the best traditions of Sweden.

Do you want to know what the name of the decoration of a Swedish country house of the century before last is called? You never will guess: pictures! By the way, in order to gracefully and originally decorate the house, artists sometimes had to work day and night.

After the finished cloths were attached to the ceilings and walls. Basically, the subject matter was biblical, but as far as possible the artists worked in other styles.

It should be noted that another difference between the rural houses in Helsingland was the presence of a room or even a separate annex, in which the hosts arranged the holidays, and, accordingly, these rooms were decorated more subtly.

Section 2. Is there a trim in your house?

If you think about it, the word "clypeus" will say everything for itself. It is easy to guess: this is exactly what is directly "on the face", i.e. in the front or central part of the house.

Our ancestors believed that from a variety of external troubles (colds, drafts and unclean forces), the home can protect windows and doors. That's why this part of the interior needed to be made not only strong, but also specially decorated.

That is, when answering the question about what kind of decorations a rural house is, every modern person can safely call the platbands, which, after mounting as a charm, were covered with marvelous patterns that resemble elements of traditional Russian embroidery.

Something like this can now be seen on towels or shirts stored in museums.

Section 3. Crafts and amulets

There is no uniform name for the decorations of a rural house of this kind. It's just figurines. Peasants, according to popular beliefs, used them in order to get a supportive attitude of Mother Nature. For example, there was a statuette symbolizing the image of a woman mother. It was created with arms and legs spread out and called a birch-tree.

No less important was the sun. He was portrayed as a sunset, and in the form of a morning sunrise. This symbol gave strength to the male half of the population.

Water was represented in the form of waves. And what about without it? After all, it plays a crucial role in human life. From her depended much: the quality of life, health, well-being, the future harvest and the physical condition of livestock. Water in Russia was divided into heavenly, ie, falling on the ground in the form of precipitation, and underground, which formed rivers, streams and lakes.

The land yielding did not stay aside. In the platbands, for example, it was shown in the form of special figures-diamonds with dots or intersecting inside the lines. This symbolism denoted, respectively, the pasture and the crop-sown field.

Quite often in the country house it was possible to find crafts in the form of animals. For example, horses, birds, dragons and others. Each beast had its own meaning, for example, a snake has always been considered the keeper of the house.

Section 4. Do you want to live in the original house? Set the original windows

In peasant settlements there were legends in which it was said that the angel presented the window to the man, having come to one woman. She wanted her house to always have light, so she tried to bring sunlight into the sieve. Seeing this, the keeper cut through the window in the hut. But this is just a legend.

In fact, the first windows were simple, small and simple, and closed with simple planks, sliding. And only since the 19th century, when the glass became available, there were real windows that are familiar to us and have a frame and shutters.

Section 5. Ukrainian vitinanki

Do you know what the decorations of a rural house, located somewhere far from the central part of Russia, are called? Perhaps, there also have their own peculiarities. Yes, of course. Otherwise, it simply can not be.

For example, in Ukraine, rural houses in the 19th century were often decorated with so-called vitynans, representing a folded paper several fold. Due to multi-layered, rather unusual openwork compositions were obtained. Ornament, by the way, was very diverse, ranging from images of flora and fauna and ending with simple geometric figures.

By the way, about how the decoration of the rural house is called, such famous personalities as Mikhail Kotsyubinsky and Ivan Franko tried to tell their readers.

As for the aforementioned vitinoks, they at one time were most widespread in the Carpathian region, the Dnieper and Podol. Although it should be noted that in each region they were brought something of their own. Absolutely identical interiors were rare, although the names of the ornaments of the rural house of such a plan have been preserved in Ukraine to this day.