Egg decorating is the art or craft of decoratingeggs. It has been a popular art form throughout history because of the attractive, smooth, oval shape of the egg, and the ancient associations with eggs as a religious and cultural symbol. Egg decorating has been associated withEaster in recent times, but was practiced independently by many ancient cultures.
Eggs are an important symbol in folklore and mythology, often representing life and rebirth, healing and protection, and sometimes featuring in creation myths.[1] This means that traditional egg decorating existed throughout the world.
The oldest eggshells, decorated with engraved hatched patterns, are dated for 60,000 years ago and were found atDiepkloof Rock Shelter inSouth Africa.[2]
InEgypt, it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs duringSham el-Nessim, a spring-ushering national holiday celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion, which falls every year on the Monday following theEastern ChristianEaster.
In Australia, emu eggs are carved and the art created by them is known askalti paarti carving.[3] The art (which dates to the nineteenth century) is practised by people of different cultures, but it is associated most strongly withAboriginal art.
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APunic ostrich egg was found inVillaricos, Spain.
Orthodox Christians in Mesopotamia used red dyed eggs to symbolise theblood of Christ, which is a possible origin of theEaster egg. Red eggs feature in Greek Easter celebrations, where people play games which involve tapping the red eggs against each other.[1]
Persian culture has a tradition of egg decorating, which takes place during the springequinox. This time marksNowruz, the Persian New Year. Family members decorate eggs together and place them in a bowl. It is said that it is from this cultural tradition that the Christian practice on Easter ultimately originates, having been transmitted via the Slavs.
Long ago Slavic and Iranic peoples formed a close continuum sharing many traditions and innovations in religion and language and in the first millennium many formerly Iranic peoples would eventually become Turkic or Slavic in identity. The tradition of Nowruz, which has its roots in at least ancientZoroastrian tradition, is practised by Persian andTurkic peoples of various faiths, albeit the tradition of egg decorating may be even older than the holiday as known modernly.
Eastern European andNorth Asian cultures, particularly Slavic ones, have a strong tradition ofdecorating eggs dating back at least to times whenSlavic paganism was the predominant religion. Chicken, duck and goose eggs are decorated variously with batik dyeing, applique, scratch-work, wax encaustic and carving. Egg decorating is particularly popular in Ukraine, where as in many Slavic countries, the eggs are calledPysanky.
The renownedRussian court artist and jewellerPeter Carl Fabergé made exquisitely decoratedprecious metal andgemstone eggs for the Romanovs. TheseFabergé eggs resembled standard decorated eggs, but they were made fromgold and precious stones. In addition to the Slavs, manyTurkic peoples also maintain closely related traditions of egg dying, associated with the coming of Spring and the Persian New YearNowruz.
In many parts of Europe, egg decorating took place before the widespread adoption ofChristianity. It is unclear to what extentpaganism and Christianity influenced the practice. The earliest example of egg decoration in Europe was a decorated egg found buried with a young girl in modern-dayWorms, Germany, dating to the 5th century, when eggs were not yet associated withEaster.[1]
InNorthern England, the tradition ofPace Egging (derived fromLatinpascha meaning 'Easter') involved boiling eggs in onion skins to dye their shells a golden colour,[4] or alternatively covered in leaves or flowers inside an onion skin to leave a patterned imprint.[1] The tradition is practiced onEaster but is thought to be pre-Christian in origin.[5]Scandinavian traditions also involved boiling eggs with flowers inside onion skins to colour them.[1]
Another type of egg decoration is theHungarian practice ofegg shoeing, which requires goose eggs and miniature horse-shoes, made of iron or lead. The current world record of egg shoeing is 1119 shoes on a single ostrich egg.[6]
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Anybird egg can be facilitated in this process, but most often the larger and stronger the eggshell is, the more favoured it will be by decorators.
Goose,duck andhens' eggs are usually "blown" – a hole is made in each end and the contents are blown out. The egg is then either carved, dyed, painted, appliqued or otherwise decorated (using a number of different techniques). Egg decoration is particularly popular in Eastern European countries.
Some eggs, likeemu orostrich eggs, are so large and strong that the shells may be carved without breaking. Decorations on emu eggs take advantage of the contrast in colours between the dark green mottled outside of the shell and the shell-underlay.
Many modern egg artists decorate their "art eggs" by etching or carving, while others paint or cover their eggs with different materials, from paper and fabric topolymer clay and are often painted in bright, spring colours. Using eggs as a canvas has become so popular that special terms have developed with the art form.[7] Egg artists also have their own guild, the International Egg Art Guild, which promotes the craft of egg artistry.
In theUnited States there are shows in many states where artists show their eggs and vendors of "egging" supplies can be found. Each year, theWhite House chooses a decorated egg from each state to display ateaster.
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