The butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional
addition to the Easter Meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a
lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mould. It is also sold at Polish
specialty markets, and some general grocery stores in Polish neighborhoods at
Easter time. Frequently the eyes are represented by peppercorns and it carries a
white standard with a red cross.
I thought everyone did this at Easter, until I missed the tradition and am trying to help celebrate and inspire you butterlamb sculptors with this overview.
My home made
BUTTER LAMB of Easter 2012
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Easter 2009: This was made from a mold that I bought from the Polish Art Center
www.polartcenter.com
It seems that a red ribbon around the neck and a white flag with a red cross are common denominators. Even if people buy their butter lamb, they'll add peppercorns for eyes, or a red ribbon or a bit of parsley which makes it look like the lamb is grazing.
Here are some other Butter Lambs - enjoy, and thanks for sharing your photos...
There are margarine lambs too
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Home made butter lamb (without a mold)
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A store bought ButterLamb. She'll need eyes and a ribbon at least. And I would smooth down the ridge where the two halves of the mold meet. Suggestion: Add some shredded butter.
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I'm not sticking my tongue out at you. |
A Man-lamb! |
Here you can see the plastic mold in the picture |
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Creative liberty taken by a store which makes them to sell. |
I love this one the best. It looks like a butter
llama to me. Now I want to do a butter llama next year. |
Wow - this hand-shaped fresh butter lamb is really impressive!
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Here cloves are used instead of the usual peppercorns for eyes. |
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I suggest they commit 100% to a butterlamb |
A butter lamb-bird. The new Polish Peep? | Too cute! More Disney or Hello-Kitty than the usual Polish butterlamb. Wait, is this white CHOCOLATE? I've been tricked by an imposter. |
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Here are some hand-made butterlambs | A Comfortable lamb, A for effort here. |
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Very happy butter lambs. |
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This Easter Lamb was made from the mold that the Polish Art Center sells. |
This easter table looks SO Polish. |
What do Butter Lambs have to do with
Dragon Slayers? A: They both are associated with the Standard of St.
George: |
St. George slaying his dragon |
Here is a butter lamb blog entry
IT WOULDN'T BE EASTER WITHOUT BUTTER LAMBS - article
Here is a family sharing their TRADITIONAL POLISH EASTER with you.
What is a Polish Easter like?
The menu is set in stone: sausage (smoked and fresh), ham, horseradish to
represent the bitter aspects of life, both hard-boiled eggs with shells dyed red
and peeled hard-boiled eggs pickled in beet juice, and the classic Polish gifts
of welcome to guests—the life-sustaining staples, bread and salt. The
centerpiece on the table is always the same: the butter lamb, a symbol of the
Lamb of God watching over the meal, sitting on a bed of greens. The day before
Easter, all of these foods are carefully packed into a basket and taken to the
church to be blessed by the priest and sprinkled with holy water. (Since the
church’s exodus to Cheektowaga made it difficult for the older people who
remained in Buffalo to find a priest to bless their baskets, the priest now
travels to them, meeting them at the market on Saturday.)
In spite of the thousands of butter lambs sold at the market and in grocery
stores around the city, many more are made at home by women either using molds
handed down in their families or working freehand. Denise showed me her mold,
the little flag reading wesolego alleluja (Happy Easter), and the beautifully
embroidered cloth she uses to cover the basket on its way to be blessed. In her
family, ethnicity trumps religion. She was planning to make her lamb as soon as
she got to her mother’s house in Niagara Falls, so the basket could go to the
church for its blessing—this in spite of the fact that neither she nor her
mother is Catholic.
When I asked why, she replied, “It’s part of being Polish; you just have to do it.”
For me the Butter Lamb symbolizes the Divine Feminine aspect of Creation. In Poland, there is no Butter Lion.