“Ceapsa”, a component piece of the head covering, is a white bonnet made of seam-decorated cloth, worn by married women.
“Ceapsa” (“ceapța”) in the image has a trapezoidal shape and it’s worn on the back of the head, over the “conci” that fixes the twisted strands of hair, specific to preparing the head “with horns” from Hațeg Country. The head covering and hair combing in this area is one of the oldest elements of folk costume in our country. The hair combing consisted in thin braids that went down under the ears, then up to the head’s top and were fixed on a wire support (“conci”) with an elongated shape and two horns on ends.
At home and during daily work, “ceapsa” was worn uncovered, but on holidays, a long white cloth (“cârpă” or “propoadă) was attached to “ceapsa”.
The lower part and the central band of “ceapsa” are decorated with geometric patterns embroidered with black wool and polychrome red, pink, green, blue, yellow, purple and white and yellow cotton threads. The cut is also marked by key patterns sewn with black wool. The alternation of decorative motives and shades creates an ornamental game with special aesthetic values, highlighting textures and shapes such as the cross, the ram’s horns, the rhombus and the intersections of lines. The fixing of the piece was made with the help of a thin string made of spun hemp.
“Ceapsa” has a 63-cm circumference and it’s 12-cm wide. The piece was purchased in Clopotiva, Hunedoara county, in 1923.
Text: Anca Zahaniciuc – MET museographer
Photo: George Ciupag – foto-video museographer, MET digital image processing