Eggs is eggs
Sir: Alex James’s comments about painted eggs should be taken with a pinch of salt (Slow life, 22 March). The answer to his question, ‘Who in Witney wants to buy a decorated egg?’, might surprise him — 5,000 people in Witney alone have bought such an egg in the past five years. These real eggshells look fantastic in a glass bowl as the centrepiece on the Easter table. Individually, they also make a cracking Easter gift, with a less fattening centre.
The last time a celebrity took an interest in these eggs was in the 1970s when Romania’s dictator Nicolae Ceausescu banned the craft, saying that the motifs were subversive. The fact that this art form has not only survived, but grown, is a tribute to the creativity, enterprise and determination of the rural women who have learned the art from their ancestors. I visited Romania a few years ago, and met several of the women who practise the art. One, Paula Omania, has built her new house on the sales proceeds of the 9,000 decorated eggs. Paula has applied that essential skill that James rightly points to — marketing.
Trevor Lucey
Witney, Oxfordshire
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