Beregi Embroidery

Examples of local Beregi embroidery in the Provincial House of Tákos. Examples of local Beregi embroidery in the Provincial House of Tákos.

The region of Bereg lies in what is now northeastern Hungary and the adjoining parts of Ukraine. Its recent history is complicated. Until the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the capital of the region was Berehove (Beregszász). In 1920 much of the region was ceded to Czechoslovakia, with the southern part remaining in Hungary.

In World War II (1939-1945), the whole region was occupied by the Hungarians. After the war, the former Czech parts of the region were ceded to the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, these became part of Ukraine. In the 1990's the Hungarian section was re-named Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg.

Beregi embroidery often consists of counted thread work, made on a linen or cotton ground. The main stitch used is cross stitch. Beregi embroidery is characterised by its use of symmetrical and geometric designs, which are normally worked in repeating blocks. A pattern is often worked as a series of large, isolated blocks enclosed by lines of smaller blocks, usually based on a different, but complementary, geometric pattern.

Modern examples tend to be much simpler in form than the older forms. The most popular colours for Beregi embroidery are blue and red (sometimes using two or more shades of these colours within one design) and to a lesser extent, mid-brown.

See also the TRC Needles entry on Hungarian embroidery.

Source: FÉL, Edit (1961). Hungarian Peasant Embroidery, London: B.T. Batsford.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 6th July 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Tuesday, 09 May 2017 19:37
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