Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century. The word pafta is of Turkic origin-possibly entering the language via Iranian influence-derived from the Persian word bafta, meaning "woven," which evolved in Turkish to signify "plate." Today, the term is used in nearly identical forms in Romanian (pafta), Bulgarian (пафта), Serbian (пафте), and some Aromanian dialects (pafta), designating functional and ornamental clothing accessories used to fasten belts, girdles, or sashes, crafted from various materials and decorated using different techniques. The three buckles decorated in the polychrome enamel technique, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova, belong to the South-Danubian tradition and are dated to the late 19th - early 20th century.
Each buckle consists of two identical trapezoidal parts, their surfaces divided into three roughly equal registers, adorned with stylized vegetal motifs forming a metal lattice into which enamel is poured. The two parts extend into sharp angles at the ends, forming a triangle with the edge of the last decorative register, similarly ornamented. The enamel used to fill the floral motifs is black, turquoise, white, orange, green, yellow, and burgundy. The entire decorative field is framed by a beaded border.
On the reverse, both components retain a copper band riveted along the edge, used to fasten the ends of the belt. The fastening system, made by interlocking the hinges of the two parts and secured with a movable pin attached by a chain to a clasp fixed on one of the buckle pieces, is concealed by a rectangular plate (riveted with three pins to the body of the piece), with narrow edges ending in sharp angles, decorated in the same style and technique. Additionally, it features three circular settings with notched edges bent inward to hold centrally placed red and green glass paste. These settings are framed by a radiant, notched band.
The symbolism of the color palette encodes meanings and symbols, chosen for their believed magical powers. Red has always represented love, affection, and protection against curses and the evil eye; white symbolizes purity and spiritual and physical cleanliness; blue is symbolically associated with infinity, morning, new beginnings, and transformation; green represents destiny, hope, prosperity, balance, and rebirth, being linked to nature's revival each spring and to life itself.
Memoirs - important resource of reconstructing the ordeal of deportations
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The special literature from Republic of Moldova has approached constantly in the last two decades the thematic of political repressions from the period of the totalitarian communist regime by valorizing numerous documentary evidences discovered in secret collections of the former regime and in personal archives of survivors of the Soviet Gulag.
An important resource in reconstructing the totalitarian past are memoirs of former deported persons and political prisoners.
Unfortunately, the biggest part of memorial materials signed by survivors of concentrated camps and direct witnessers of events are dispersed through news-papers and journals. Very few of them have been gathered in volumes and collections of memories. Few are also those who did not try to forget the ordeal they went through and had the courage to relive it one more time when putting it on paper. These facts leads to the need of encouraging witnessers to write their memories for researcher to collect them into a unique database, to valorize and offer the society a specialized analysis of these valuable historic evidences.
The author is proposing a series of memorial materials for analysis from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Here are names of several authors of terrible pages about the ordeal of Stalinist deportations from Bessarabia: Alexandru Pripa, native of v. Pelenia, jud. Bălți, Dumitru Berezovski, native from Drochia, Vladimir Bușilo from Comrat, Apolinarie Vataman from v. Ghica Vodă, Drochia and Emilia Vataman-Racoveț from v. Cuconești, Brătușeni, deported in 1941; Nadejda Pascal from Durlești, Fiodor Cociu, native from Hâncești and Simion Buiuc from Chiperceni, Orhei, deported in 1949.
The memoirs offer important information about the way in which the deportation operations were conducted, amazing details about the working and living conditions in Siberian colonies, the regime and daily life in Gulag, the behavior of humans in extreme conditions, inter-human relations, the spirit and attitude of former deported towards the soviet regime etc.
On base of these valuable details can be reconstructed the gloomy picture of the Bessarabian who new the deportations drama, the picture of an entire generation who had to confront face to face the soviet machine of repressions.
An epoch can be rediscovered from these details.
Elena Postică
Victor Andreev: “And when the Motherland will regain freedom ...”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Elena Postică
Documentary photography exhibition “War after the War”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIII [XXVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
Lawsuits initiated against participants of resistance movement from postwar Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
Independent Moldova seen through a museum exhibition
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
Elena Postică
Oak from Caracui. Exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Academician Nicolae Corlăteanu
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century....
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
