КОЛЕКЦИЈА ПРЕСЛИЦА ИЗ ЗБИРКЕ ДРВЕНИХ ПРЕДМЕТА ЕТНОЛОШКОГ ОДЈЕЉЕЊА МУЗЕЈА РЕПУБЛИКЕ СРПСКЕ
DISTAFF COLLECTION FROM THE COLLECTION OF WOODEN OBJECTS OF THE ETHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF THE MUSEUM OF THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA

Summary/Abstract: The carved symbols that adorn the Distaff Collection from the Collection of Wooden Objects of the Ethnology Department of the Museum of the Republic of Srpska are the subject of this paper, in which I will try to offer an answer to the question of their origin and meaning. They are archaic – solar, phallic and funerary symbols. Their artistic and decorative characteristics form a special connection with the female gender role in the patriarchal context, with the presence of the interweaving of the elements of (folk) religion and folk customs, which further implies that the distaff had a magical character in our folklore. In addition to their decorative role when it comes to distaffs, these carvings were a powerful means of (communication) identification among our ancestors during the Ottoman occupation. The first part of the paper deals with the question of the origin of symbols and after that initial part, the general conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be presented through the analysis of the depiction of the cross as the most common engraved motif on the distaffs. The end of the paper is concentrated on the analysis of the symbols of the Distaff Collection of the Museum of the Republic of Srpska. As for the method of data collection used for this paper, the collection of written material kept in the Library of the Museum of the Republic of Srpska, electronic editions of professional journals, data from the inventory book of the Museum of the Republic of Srpska, as well as the research of the distaff collection in the depot of the Ethnology Department of the Museum of the Republic of Srpska were consulted. Keywords: distaff, gender role, symbol, fertility symbols, religion, folk art

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