COAT (in Polish SUKMANA /suk-ma-na/)

Visual or audio material of objects, buildings and constructions, processes

Description accompanying the visual/audio material

• Chronology



2nd half of 20th century

• Country



POLAND

• Heritage Theme



Pastoral life

• Location



Poland, Podkarpackie Province, Nadsanie region (surroundings of towns Jarosław nad Lubaczów).

• History



“Sukmana” is a typical product of the local community. It was made and used nearby Jarosław and Lubaczów. The object comes from the ethnographic collection of Artur Dobrucki from Jarosław that was passed to the collection of Museum Kresów in Lubaczów in 2006. “Sukmana” underwent a thorough restoration in a workshop of M. Ratajczyk in 2007 (catalogue no. ML/E/2338).

• Description of function, materials, style, shape



“Sukmana” is a kind of long coat that was used by men in rural communities (farming, or farming-breeding communities). It is made out of a homespun cloth – a felt woolen piece of cloth produced in home weaving workshop or in places in a village where the process of fulling took place. From a type of a material comes also the name for this clothing (“sukno” – cloth , “sukmana”. “Sukmana” was a feast clothing and symbolized the social status – it was worn by married men. Less decorative sukmana were also worn daily. This type of clothing appeared in Poland in the 18th century under the influence of the clothes worn by the nobility ( “żupan” /ˈʐupan/). “Sukmana” was very popular in villages and small town between 19th and 20th century. Later on it disappeared went out of use. It was popularized in art and literature and became a symbol of peasants. In this terms it is still used nowadays in some parts of Poland during national or religious feasts.
From a historical point of view this part of clothing vary from region to region in terms of tailoring and decorations. The object from Museum Kresów in Lubaczów comes from the Polish-Ukrainian borderland ( Nadsanie region). It has all elements of a typical „sukmana” with long sleeves, a characteristic collar that can be turned out to protect the face against the weather, and a wide bottom of a coat. At both sides there are pockets. “Sukmana” is decorated with braid and tassel fringes, simple embroidery and green hem. Decoration appear in front of a coat, at a collar, sleeves (cuffs), seam, and pockets.
Material and technique: weaving product, woolen homespun cloth woven from a light grey wool, woolen strings that are coloured in green; hand sewing with linen threads.
DIMENSIONS: length 110 cm, length of a sleeve 56 cm, width at the bottom 385 cm.
 

• Bibliography



W. Gaj-Piotrowski, Kultura materialna ludu okolic Rozwadowa, Rzeszów 1975;
K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004;
E. Piskorz-Benekowa, Polskie stroje ludowe, Warszawa 2005;
 

• Keywords



Sheep products (wool, cloth), folk costume