The Christian holiday of Easter, which commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has been associated with a lot of customs related to the arrival of spring. They originate in the times when the Slavic ancestors of Slovaks were not yet Christians and they worshiped nature. The custom of washing oneself or splashing others with fresh water stemmed from a belief in the ability of water to purify, to give people health and protect them from sickness. The power of awakening nature was supposed to be transferred to man through whipping with fresh twigs. The egg was a universal symbol of the renewal of life. The egg is still present in the Easter holiday in the form of egg dishes and decorated eggs – Easter eggs. Puppies – bunnies, goslings and chicks – these are also symbols of the awakening of nature. They can be found on post cards, in advertisements or in the form of decorations which people hang on budding or flowering twigs in a vase.
In Slovakia, bobbin lacemaking of Easter decorations started at approximately the beginning of the 1990s. Woven Easter eggs are associated with Easter along with motifs of animals. They either consist solely of lace or the lace is part of the decoration of a hollowed egg shell. Weaving of Easter decorations and pictures with Easter motifs is mostly inspired by Slovak traditional laces which are uniquely colourful. Various colours of thread started to be used in bobbin lacemaking in the majority of the eighteen local or regional types of bobbin lace in Slovakia at the turn of the 20th century. Since then the lace has been woven harmonising its colours with embroidery on a single piece of textile. An example of the new uses of traditional bobbin lacemaking which was used for making lace to decorating bonnets in Solivar near Prešov is the motif of the Easter chick on the postage stamp. The Easter lace motifs of contemporary lace makers represent one of the new forms of development of the tradition of Slovak folk bobbin lace. This issue of postage stamp was realised on the basis of competition among contemporary Slovak Bobbin Lace societies.
                                                                                                                                                                                   Juraj Zajonc

The stamps are with freesia perfume.