Kyjatice Toys

The mass manufacturing of wooden toys in Slovakia emerged at the end of the 19th century. The three best-known centres included Stará Turá, Kunešov, and Kyjatice in the Rimavská Sobota District. The production of Kyjatice toys was based on the local manufacturing of “súsek” boxes (portable sarcophagus-shaped chests for storing clothes, and later grains and flour), pursuing the characteristic technological and decoration principles. When the manufacturing of “súseks” began disappearing after 1918 as a result of the industrial development, the manufacturing experience and skills of the local producers were transferred into the production of wooden toys. Kyjatice toys are manufactured from high-quality beech wood planks. The slabby part is made by beam-splitting of logs which are adjusted by trimming and shaving. The individual structural parts of the toys are bound together without using any metal connecting elements or glue; instead using only wooden pins or morticing. The most original part of Kyjatice toys is their decoration. The pattern is carved into the surface of a stained product using a compass with a chisel at the end. The chisel removes the stains, revealing the natural light wood colour. The core of the ornament is geometrical shapes (lines, spirals, circles, semi-circles etc) which combine with each other and create various decorative sets – so-called circling decoration. The Kyjatice toys were originally surface-treated by natural, home-made dye – a solution obtained by boiling sloe or wild plum bark in water. Chemical stains and dyes covering the wood structure began to be used later. However, most Kyjatice toys retain their original brown-red colour. The most typical toy is a horse standing on two or four wheels, with a yoke, a rider, a sled, or other animals standing on two or four wheels (cow, ox, bull, pig, cock, hedgehog, or rabbit), a horse-shaped rattle, doll’s houses, and children’s furniture (cots, tables, drawers, cradles, and stools), plate racks, boxes of various sizes, working tools (wheelbarrows, chariots), as well as schematic human figures (farmer, housewife etc). The manufacturing of Kyjatice toys is still lively both within and beyond the original area of production. The toys are currently produced by Ladislav Hedvigi from Rimavské Zalužany, Anton Oboňa from Lazany, Karol Strnište from Smižany, and Martin Šalgo from Sliač, and the Kyjatice patterns also serve as an inspiration for the Master of folk art production, Jana Majerská from Nová Baňa.