Mykola Sumtsov's contribution to the study of pysankas

Abstract

The purpose of the article. To highlight the work of Mykola Sumtsov (1854-1922) on the study of pysankas as one of the types of decorative and applied art of Ukraine and his influence on further research on pysankas based on historical sources and archival materials.

Research methodology. The methods of search, analysis, synthesis and generalization were applied, the principles of historicism and objectivity were used. The application of these methods and principles of research helped to reveal the activities of M. Sumtsov related to the study of pysanka, its ornamental component and pysanka art in general.

Scientific novelty. For the first time, MykolaSumtsov's activities in the study of pysanka are considered in a holistic manner, and the introduction of letters by F. Vovk, A. Patera with information about pysankas, H. Yashchurzhynsky about sending a collection of products to him, and coverage of correspondence with another researcher S. Kulzhynsky testifies to the recognition of his work on this issue.

Conclusions. M. Sumtsov's studies of Ukrainian pysankas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries indicate that he was one of the first to take a deep interest in this topic. It was M. Sumtsov who first developed a questionnaire program for the study of pysankas. In 1891, he published a generalized publication about pysankas, in which he proposed his own classification of ornamental motifs, highlighted the customs and ritual traditions associated with the use of pysankas, characterized the symbolic and semantic meaning of individual ornamental motifs depicted on Easter eggs, and so on.

Even today, researchers of folk art, including pysankas, turn to the work of M. Sumtsov, which for many years became a defining work in the study of Ukrainian pysankas.