Humble eggs hatch into things of beauty

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

From an ordinary egg to a work of art.

Although egg-decorating is one of the oldest crafts known to man, many Indonesians have never heard about eggcraft and pysanka (egg-painting).

One of the country's few eggcraft artists is Inge Poon, who joined some of her friends by displaying their creations at an eggcraft exhibition at Hotel Mulia Senayan recently.

Among the creations displayed were a glittering gold treasure case, a merry-go-round case, a rosary case, a mosque and a delicate lotus flower with Chinese Goddess Kuan Im sitting gracefully in the center. There were also several beautifully painted pysanka eggs.

Pysanka is an art form originating from the Ukraine. It is said that the use of the egg symbolizes birth and the origins of life and, in Christianity, such an egg is used to symbolize resurrection, from which stemmed the custom of decorating and exchanging eggs on Easter Sunday.

The most famous type of decorated egg was introduced in the late 19th century by a jeweler and fine craftsman to the Russian court, Peter Carl Faberge, whose name was then used for his precious decorated eggs, garnished with gold, rare stones and ivory, and whose designs reflected the pinnacle of the Russian empire.

"I started to learn the techniques of pysanka-making from books three years ago. I found that the phases are similar to the ones applied in batik-making but in batik you draw on a piece of cloth. I learned to master the skill of batik-making first before I started drawing on eggs," explained the mother of three.

She added that she uses motorized tools that resemble the traditional canting (batik tool) to draw the motifs.

Inge also explained that she learned about eggcrafting and faberge-style egg-decorating in the United States and she applied her knowledge to create beautiful egg decorations.

She used different-sized eggs from different species, with the largest one from an ostrich, and other medium-sized eggs like goose, emu, duck, double-yolked swan, black swan and the smallest, from quail and small lizards, as additional ornaments.

However, some eggs, like local ones, can only be decorated into pysanka but are not suitable for eggcraft because their thin shells are easily broken.

As the art is quite new in the country, Inge and other egg artists have to import most of the ornaments, paints and eggs, especially ones for eggcrafting, from the United States and Australia.

"It has been difficult to find ostrich eggs after the outbreak of anthrax several years ago," said Inge, who has also mastered the skill of making paper tole.

The crafting of an egg begins with making a hole underneath it to remove the egg white and yolk. The shell is then cleaned by soaking it in a special solution, which also enables the paint to be absorbed properly. Then the eggshell is carefully cut into the desired shape, painted and meticulously decorated with other ornaments.

Each crafted egg and pysanka requires artistic design, fine craftsmanship and many hours to complete, taking from five days to seven days for each egg.

"I love the art of decorating eggs and enjoy doing it. But I keep some of the most beautiful and expensive ones in my own collection," she said.

The price of her crafted eggs and pysanka ranges from Rp 200,000 to around Rp 9 million.

Inge said that such decorated eggs make beautiful gifts, especially for the post-fasting month celebration of Idul Fitri, Christmas and the Chinese Lunar New Year, and they can be displayed in guest or family rooms.

She advised collectors to clean their pysanka eggs occasionally by gently wiping them with a soft brush or cloth, and to store them in a cabinet.