2013Easter - Set

he Easter stamps issued on 5 March 2013 were designed by the graphic artist Péter Nagy and printed by the ANY Security Printing Company.The original motifs of the miniature sheet and the set of stamps with a face value of HUF 85 are from a collection from the start of the last century. These patterns with white scratching on a red painted ground came from Gyimes, Csík and Háromszék in Transylvania. The variations of technique and the colour combination highlight the beauty, rhythm and vibrance of the motifs. At the same time their archaic, cultic nature is evident. The forerunners of the floral patterns are to be found in the wealth of Transylvanian Renaissance motifs. Some patterns can have more than one meaning, which is clear evidence of the astonishing variety of patterns in the Carpathian Basin, the refinement of the women and girls who decorate eggs, and the fostering of noble, centuries-old traditions.The main motif of the set of stamps with a face value of HUF 110 is a decorated egg from the Gyimes region of the Carpathian Basin with a broad band around the middle bearing the inscription “Christ – Hallelujah”. The egg is divided into eight parts above and below the band with a black outer and red inner star crowning the top and bottom of the egg. The egg artist uses the combination of red and black to highlight and reinforce the main motif while emphasising the traditional colours of Transylvania found for instance in the women’s red and black skirt, the church flags fluttering in the Whitsun breeze and the mourning colours of Székelyland. Gyimes is one of the most religious areas where to the present day eggs are decorated in every household with daughters. The region has an archaic collection of patterns which is unrivalled in the Carpathian Basin, comprising several hundred variations that nevertheless have a spectacular unity, in short Gyimes egg decoration.The Decorative Egg Collection in Zengővárkony contains eggs decorated individually by thirty different techniques from tiny quail to huge ostrich eggs and among them are exceptionally crafted examples of folk art. All the eggs exhibited have their own individual harmony and enchanting, eye-catching beauty. (Source: Dr Rózsa Nienhaus, founder and owner of the Decorative Egg Museum)