Delmonas (or Dalmonas, plural delmonai) – is a detail of

folk costume Folk costume, traditional dress, traditional attire or folk attire, is clothing of an ethnic group, nation or region, and expresses cultural, religious or national identity. An ethnic group's clothing may also be called ethnic clothing or ethnic ...

of women originated in

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor (; ; ) or Prussian Lithuania (; ; ) is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is a historical region of Prussia, where Prussian Lithuanians (or Lietuvininkai) lived, now located in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Obla ...

. It is an elaborately decorated purse, visibly attached to the waist by a band. This costume feature represents the

Prussian Lithuanians The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuan ...

and is not common to other ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In 2019, Delmonai of Lithuania Minor were inscribed into the

Intangible Cultural Heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...

Inventory of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

as a form of

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

, traditional craftsmanship, or agricultural activities.

Traditional appearance

Delmonas was usually sewn from

velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. Traditionally the color of fabric was dark, and delmonas was embroidered using colorful threads and glass beads. Embroidery usually depicted flowers or other plants, birds, and sometimes the initials of the owner. Also some meaningful quotes, dates or initials, sometimes figurines could be embroidered on a rectangle, rounded, flare, wavy bottom, trapezium, multiangular or other shape pocket. Delmonai were usually embroidered by the women of

themselves; however, they could also order delmonai from a tailor as well.

Usage and history

Worn at the end of the 18th century – beginning of the 20th century – when region was a part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

– delmonai served a certain practical function. Women could store small items while doing house chores or use it as a pocket going outside. This practical feature was not hidden at first – dalmonai was the most decorated item of the costume. However, during various political turmoil women of

started to wear dalmonai secretly. They would be hidden under the skirt and used to hide money, documents or letters, especially for women who were willing or forced to leave their homeland. Many of such women would pass delmonai to younger generations, who would then donate them for various museums of Lithuania. Women of

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

city reportedly continued to wear delmonai up to 1940s. The popularity of delmonai was restored in the revival of

in 1960s and 1970s. Being used as a sign of Lithuania Minor identity, delmonai are also used as a modern accessory, continuing the uninterrupted production in

Klaipėda region The Klaipėda Region () or Memel Territory ( or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when, as Memelland, it was put under the administr ...

Gallery

File:Lithuanian traditional costumes.Klaipėda Region.jpg, Examples of folk costumes from Lithuania Minor. Dalmonas is shown as a part of woman's costume File:Prussian Lithuanians (lietuvininkės) with national costumes, painted in the 19th century.jpg, 19th Century Prussian Lithuanians with national costumes File:Stamps of Lithuania, 2015-20.jpg, 2015 Lithuanian postage stamp, commemorating the traditional embroidery of delmonas

Sources

{{Reflist Lithuanian folk art National symbols of Lithuania Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Textile arts Parts of clothing Lithuanian clothing