A Pig-Shaped Beeswax Voting Offering

A votive offering is an offering made as a petition for a favour asked or in gratitude for good health.  
The earliest attested cast beeswax votive offerings in the territory of present-day Slovenia date back to the 17th century. Wax figurines were originally made from beeswax, from the early 20th century onwards, however, paraffin was used instead of beeswax. It was cast into wooden figurative moulds carved either by carvers or honey-bread makers themselves.
The votive offerings made of wax and shaped like animals and human body parts included pig-shaped votive offerings, which were handcrafted and sold by honey-bread makers, who were also waxworkers or candle makers. 

For Heritage Enthusiasts:

The carved wooden mould for pig-shaped votive offerings is one of the moulds used by the Krško-based honey-bread maker Engelbert Stary, who moved to Krško from Eisenkappel in Carinthia in the mid-1880s. He had an apartment, a workshop and a shop in a single-story house in Krško, house number 80 (the present-day Cesta krških žrtev 38).
After her parents' death (her father died in 1918), the honey-bread trade was carried on by the daughter Elza Stary – married name Sluga – who kept up the family business until her death in 1953. She used honey-bread moulds inherited from her father Engelbert. Her contemporaries recalled that the frosting decoration of the honey-breads she made before World War II was blue and pink.
The mould for pig-shaped votive offerings is on view as part of a permanent ethnological exhibition, which is dedicated to the life of Styrians and Carniolans from the Posavje region. Most of the preserved moulds that used to belong to honey-bread maker Engelbert Stary date back to the 19th century and have been part of the museum's collection since 1940, when they were acquired for the then Posavje region's museum in Krško by Oto Auman (1897–year of death unknown), an archaeologist, antique collector and the museum's first curator.
 
Back in the day, people would bring pig-shaped votive offerings to church as a petition to god for the good health and successful growth of their pigs, especially on 17 January, the Feast of St. Anthony, the patron saints of hogs and pigs. They did so because pigs were an important part of our ancestors' livelihood and thus received a great deal of care and attention.  
Beeswax votive objects donated to the church were later used for candles. The wax was reheated and poured into candle moulds, which were blessed on Candlemas (2 February).
 

A pig-shaped beeswax votive offering and a votive offering mould.	Carved wooden moulds for pig-shaped beeswax votive offerings, a pig-shaped beeswax votive offering and a mould replica on view as part of the permanent ethnological exhibition.

For more information see:

• Baš Angelos (ur.): Slovenski etnološki leksikon, Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 2004, str. 315, 684.
• Bogataj Janez: Domače obrti na Slovenskem, Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1989, str. 89-93.
• Černelič Krošelj Alenka (ur.): Črno-belo bogastvo: prašiček za vsakdanjik in praznik / The Black-and-White Treasure: Krškopolje Pigs as Part of Day-to-Day Life and Feast Days, Brežice: Posavski muzej Brežice, 2020.
• Černelič Krošelj Alenka (ur.): »Vljudno vabljeni, nič siljeni«, Muzealca Franjo in Iva Stiplovšek: proti sedmim desetletjem Posavskega muzeja Brežice / Politely Invited, Not Urged — Museum Couple Franjo and Iva Stiplovšek: Into the Seventh Decade of the Posavje Museum Brežice, Brežice: Posavski muzej Brežice, 2018. Dostopno na spletu.
• Makarovič Gorazd: Slovenska ljudska umetnost, Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1981.
• Makarovič Gorazd: Votivi, Ljubljana: Slovenski etnografski muzej, 1991.

Prepared by: Stanka Glogovič
 

Educational Programme:

Workshop: Make a Pig-Shaped Votive Offering

The workshop is led by a member of the conservation-and-restoration workshop team, who pours liquid beeswax into the mould in front of the workshop participants. To start with, the participants learn about Krškopolje pigs and about the heritage related to the making of pig-shaped votive offerings. The final product is a pig-shaped wax votive offering based on a votive offering replica.
The workshop is suitable for primary school students of all ages. Price: € 3.
Please notify us of your planned visit ahead of time: pedagog@pmb.si, + 386 7 466 0518
 

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