**10. The table cloth**

There are patrimonial objects of exceptional value in the area, apart from those belonging to the church. One of these objects is a table cloth belonging to a family in Baba Village, inherited from the grandmother of the family, while the original owner remains lost in time (**Figure 14**).

**Figure 14.** *Table cloth.*

It is a table cloth with a unique elegance, but what makes it particularly priceless is the handmade embroidery featuring a metaphor of the Universe. The execution, with a highly bourgeois appearance for a peasant family, is unquestionably not a typical rustic, country-side embroidery, but more likely coming from the era of Hungarian dominance. The fabric of the usual hemp textile used in the area, it is very delicate and silky, presenting a more shadowy white than the pure crispy white we normally see in peasant houses. The embroidery work is of particular interest. It is associated with Sunday: Sunday as a state of being, when the air is still and there are less worries floating around, as a popular hearsay in the area, but also with Sunday lunch, most special lunch of the week. The decorative embroidery is also made in white, discrete, unlike peasants' models which are embroidered with vivid colors. One can easily get lost in the embroidery like in a symbolic journey. A representation of the Sun is featured in the middle of the cloth, surrounded by a Latin liturgic quote**"** Benedictus est. Domine in firmamento coeli" (tr. Blessed is the Lord to shine). The quote encircles the Sun, followed by the Moon and stars on a secondary plan. What is interesting here, beyond the esthetic beauty and the level of the craft, is the mix between the very canonic words and the images, coming rather from a laic world, representing the nature and the power of nature. God is represented by the universe, the entire existence. The center - our center - is the Sun. The second level of the work is represented by the four directions, each with its symbol - a mythical animal of power: the elephant, the eagle, the bull and the crane, surrounded by other natural elements and power of winds, like the Zephyr wind, arranged in symmetry. Overall, the construction and symmetry of the embroidery follows a mandala principle, and on different levels more quotes in Latin are introduced, for the grace of the Lord and virgin Mary. The richness of symbolistic makes it new every time one sets eyes on it and what invites for further contemplation is the fact that it seems unfinished. There are missing spots in its perfect symmetry where one can only imagine what elements should be added to close the circle; which is a wise concern: things do not have to be perfectly finished, the possibility of a continuity should exist, like in the wabi-sabi oriental tradition. In an ideal situation, 100 or more years ago, in the middle of this table, where sun is represented, a candleholder would mark the lunch occasion. Perhaps the candleholder would be the very same recovered in the same village, from the church, during some modernizing works, and abandoned in a deposit. The candleholder is not particularly valuable in itself, it is a humble object from an unpretentious material, probably coming from the old wooden church, and did not pass the beauty & shiny conditions imposed by the new tendencies in ecclesiastic objects: it is too modest.

But together with the table cloth they form a dynamic duo of simplicity, mysticism and gentleness, a benediction for the food and all those that worked for it and enjoy it.

#### **11. The dowry coffer**

The dowry coffer is a mandatory must-have in any traditional Transylvanian house (**Figure 15**).

This was originally designed for keeping the clothing and all the textiles that belonged to the dowry of the girls when they got married. It was a symbol of the financial power, the status of the family, but also of the talent and craft of the bride. The dowry chest was also an armoire so it had a central role in the house, hence the 3 main functions of the dowry chest: storage, furniture and ritualistic object. Most likely, originally it was a home-made object which later grew to be more sophisticated and special artisans had to work on it [8].

**Figure 15.** *The dowry coffer.*

We'll go on with a dowry coffer from Drăghia village and its story. Today, the chest belongs to the Radu family, and it is inherited from a female ancestor in this family that married Radu Constantin from Drăghia (**Figure 16**).

The young girl came from another county, more than 100 years ago, from Dobrocina on Someș, the largest river in the area. Together with properties and animals, she brought also this chest. Inside the chest it is a lateral pocket where Ruxandra, the young girl, kept papers and other small objects. On the inside of the chest lid, she sticked pictures of her family. Every time she'd get homesick, she opened the chest to look at picture. On top of the chest, she kept pillows and other items. We can say that the dowry coffer is a continuation, an appendix of the bride. So many times, she opened it and took care of her personal items. She took care of the chest with such a warm heart, it was after all a silent witness of her life far away from home. Throughout the years it gathered all her memories and speaks to us today about the beautiful Ruxandra.

Most common objects that we can find in almost every house are the traditional towels (ștergare), that are not particularly used as towels, but rather as decorative items. They are rectangular piece of hemp cloth, sometimes embroidered with

**Figure 16.** *The family story in dowry coffer.*

traditional patters or fringed at the edges. As decoration, they are placed above the icons or ornamental plates, to form wings-like accessories. Usually, they are made out of hemp, woven on the loom in a traditional manner. As a model, we present the towel belonging to Maria Rus, from Gâlgău Village, Sălaj county. She married in a village neighboring Drăghia, to where she brought, as dowry, various textiles. This particular towel is decorated with flowers in a vase. The embroidery, that took many weeks to be completed, represent a vivid representation of fresh flowers from the garden that have just been picked and set the vase. The towel is part of the private collection of Radu family from Drăghia.

Other not-to-miss objects in a local family are the pillow cases. They are entirely made from hemp, hand-woven on the loom, and sometimes later even cotton. But mostly hemp, because country-side used to be bountiful in hemp plantations and women were highly specialized in working with hemp. The embroidery is usually set in the middle part of the large piece of hemp, with various motifs: flowers, animals or geometric shapes. These pillow cases had a more decorative that practical purpose. On the other hand, the wealth of a family could be deduced from the number of pillows you could see in the house.
