Zuzana Drugová
In the collection of the Central Slovak Museum in Banská Bystrica, an embroidery pattern book from the municipality of Polomka situated at Horehronie in central Slovakia can be found. It is a collection of 67 patterns for individual pieces of materials from the middle of the 20th Century. These not only represent motives and variations of embroidery patterns but also show their local names. These are, for example, patterns such as small snakes, a saw, fish, frog, alphabet, little coins, shamrock, half-heart, trees, cot or apple. The base for embroidery in the Horehronie region was originally a geometrical ornament embroidered mainly by the cross embroidery technique. After the onset of cheap, factory-produced material in the 1930s, technical production was significantly improved and new embroidery techniques started to be used. This new material and new colourfulness nearly caused a decline in quality. In the 1930s, the shape and artistic decoration (mainly embroidery) of folk costumes in this region represent a balanced whole. Therefore, during this period when folk clothing was ceasing to exist in other parts of Slovakia, this collection attracts the attention of ethnographers and artists. Some of embroidery patterns from the collection.