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).