Изображения на лозница и грозде в българското народно приложно изкуство
The Images of Vines and Grapes in Bulgarian Folk Applied Arts

Summary/Abstract: The main object of the article is to expose an attempt to make a functional and semantic analysis of the images of vines and grapes in Bulgarian folk applied arts and to point out some stylistic peculiarities in their interpretation. Therefore, the author studies the images of vines and grapes in ritual plastic arts (ritual bread and Saint Trifon’s attributes: wreaths, crowns, bunches, tufts) and in weaved, embroided and knitted folk ornaments. The conclusion is drawn that in Bulgarian folk applied arts the images of vines and grapes, as well as the immediate participation of vines in ritual plastic art (Saint Trifon’s attributes), are rich in meaning. The author emphasises on the fact that apart the highly evident decorative function, these images have various and archaic symbolic meanings recalling the essential archetype imagery which have known different historical interpretations existing as religious versions of the motifs. The creation and the development of these images as symbols of the perpetual renaissance of life favoured their integration in the semantic plan of the mythologeme “tree of life” (= „world image tree”). The author underlines the fact that the images of vines and grapes are studied only in the frames of folk applied arts in spite of their presence in handicrafts artistic creations or in specialized and especially in religious art, where they have some particular features requiring a separate analysis of the images.

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