Grape Motifs

 
 

Grapes are probably the most commonly found fruit motif on pysanky; per Selivachov, this motif is found in just about every region of Ukraine, and varies from highly naturalistic to highly stylized. While this motif is more common on embroidery and pottery, it appears on pysanky as well.  The motif consists of a compact grouping of rounded, faceted or even linear elements reminiscent of abundant bunches of grapes.

Whatever ancient meanings there may have been for grapes and grapevines–probably related to fertility–they are now subsumed to christian ones.  In the Christian context, the vineyard is Christ’s church, and the vine-grower is Christ himself; he is also the “True Vine.”

These are examples of grape motifs taken from pysanky and from books about pysanky:




And these are a few examples from Selivachov.  Descriptions below.



PYSANKA MOTIFS

  1. 2)Vinnytsia

  2. 3)Vinnytsia

  3. 4)Lviv



The pysanka on the left, from Pokuttia, has what appear to be quite lovely grapes.  The colors are not natural, and the shape stylized, but it fits the profile.  It is from a private collection. The pysanka on the right is a recreation of a design from Shuliavka, which is now a suburb of Kyiv; it was first recorded by Kulzhynsky, and is entitled «Виноград» (Grapes).

        

These two pysanky are reproductions of traditional designs; the line width on the one on the left is too thin,but both are otherwise fairly accurate.  The one on the right is from the Chernihiv region.

                                    

       


Grapes are a popular motif on Diasporan pysanky, too.  Here they tend to be more naturalistic and less abstracted, but not in all cases. Below are a few examples of Diasporan grape motif pysanky.



      
     


 

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