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Big Cupboards/Armoires » Rare Folk Painted Marriage Wardrobe or Cupboard
Ref: 4503
Rare, an ordinary early 20th century pine wardrobe or two door cupboard but decorated front and sides in traditional folk art painting in the 20s or 30s to form part of a suite of marriage furniture. From Central Transylvania. It has a drawer to base and pole for hanging clothes but could also be shelved out if required. Great for bedroom therefore but shelved could be used anywhere for everyday storage.
The folk painting of pine furniture in multi-ethnic regions of Central and Eastern Europe flourished after the emancipation of the peasantry from the mid-19th century and was very much part of defining one’s self & group, rarely was decoration of furniture “free” or a matter of whim, references to ethnic and national identity through colours and symbols was commonplace and often codified. Here the style of folk painting is strictly adhered to and in the handful of villages where practised the folk costume and marriage suite was decorated in the same “fancy” or red and white style. In the case of this cupboard, which must have been painted before World War II the addition of the Hungarian national coat of arms made a further claim especially for people living in far off lands and since 1920 the wrong side of the Trianon border in Romania. The situation changed again after 1945 when Romania became a satellite Soviet nation. The inheritors concerned that they may be reported as bad communists thought it wise to conceal the coats of arms under white paint - an whitewash that we recently removed.
Transylvania early 20th cent.
H: 196cm (77.2in)
W: 109cm (42.9in)
D: 47cm (18.5in)
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