Humble eggs hatch into things of beauty

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.