what is a dutch hex sign

Full Answer

What is a hex sign?

For a series of six works, see Hexalogy. Hex signs are a form of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, related to fraktur, found in the Fancy Dutch tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

What are Dutch hex signs painted on?

Question: What are Dutch hex signs painted on? We raise herfords cows. Answer: Some people paint them directly on the barn/shed/house surface, so you could paint one on your barn. When I have made them, I paint them on premade wood plaques from any hobby store or cut them out of mdf board.

Why are they called Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs?

Depending on your viewpoint, it’s either the ancient spelling for ‘Dutch’, or the German word for ‘German’. My daughter thinks, since the ancient word therefore predates the hex sign system, it’s silly to call them that. Especially when they are ‘Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs’.

What do the Irish symbols on a hex sign mean?

Irish Symbolism: 2 distinct Irish symbols are commonly seen on Dutch Hex signs. Shamrocks are seen for luck and the Claddagh Ring is shown to represent love, loyalty, and friendship. Raindrops: Represents water and crop abundance. Raindrops are depicted in a paisley shape and can be large or small.

What do Dutch hex signs mean?

It wasn't too long ago that farmers and other dutch folks would place hex signs on barns, homes, and other buildings out of superstition. The signs were meant to protect (or place a "hex" on) the structures and things inside of them from evil and misfortune.

Why is it called a hex sign?

The “fancy” farmers also decorated their large German style bank barns with colorful geometric patterns. Six-pointed star designs were very popular. The German word for six, “sechs”, sounded like hex to their English-speaking neighbors. In time these “hex” patterns became commonly called hex signs.

What do hex signs on barns mean?

The markings, colors, and designs on hex signs are believed by many to protect the barns and the animals housed inside from fire, lightning, sickness and the work of evil spirits, demons and witchcraft. They might augment fertility of livestock or encourage the right balance of sun and rain for success with crops.

Do the Amish use hex signs?

The Amish do not use hex signs.

What does a daddy hex sign mean?

Claypoole calls this design "Daddy Hex." He says the symbols mean "to keep away famine, plague and all evils of life." The rosettes "ward-off disease and pestilence." PHOTO: Eric Claypoole. This design represents the sun, rain and fertility. Claypoole says this design calls for "crop abundance" and "fertility for life. ...

Where do you hang a hex sign?

barnsEven though it is traditional to mount hex signs at the peak of the wall under the eaves, or high on a long wall like on many barns in Pennsylvania, this placement is an excellent way to mount and effectively show off a smaller sign.

What does a hex mark mean?

Definition of hex mark : a usually stylized often symbolic design placed on a structure (as a building or an enclosure for animals) for the purpose of warding off evil spirits or simply for its decorative effect — compare hexafoos.

Who uses hex signs?

Hex signs are a form of folk art indigenous to southeastern Pennsylvania. German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. They delineated themselves as the “fancy Dutch” (mostly Lutherans) and the “plain Dutch” (mostly Old Order Amish).

Why do people hang quilts on their barns?

Barn quilts began as a way to honor a loved one with a gorgeous piece of folk art. While barn quilts have been around for many years, there's been a spike in popularity in the last two decades.

Can Amish use the toilet?

More often than not, Amish houses did have indoor plumbing and regular bathrooms. Although there was that one place in the middle of nowhere with one outhouse and many children. Most of my experiences with the Amish I will treasure.

Do Amish have inside toilets?

The core of the legal showdown: What the Amish do with their poop. Instead of indoor plumbing and toilets, they use outhouses. They then dip out their waste by bucket, treat it with lime, mix it with animal manure and spread on their farm.

Why do Amish not use mirrors?

While the Amish do not take pictures of themselves, they do use mirrors. The use of a mirror is allowed because unlike a picture, it is not a graven image. Women use mirrors to do their hair and men use mirrors to shave. If you take our guided farmhouse tour, you'll spot a few mirrors in the house.

What are the hex signs on a quilt?

The geometric patterns of quilts can be seen in the patterns of many hex signs. Hearts and tulips seen on barns are commonly found on elaborately lettered and decorated birth, baptism and marriage certificates known as fraktur. Throughout the 20th century, hex signs were often produced as commodities for the tourist industry in Pennsylvania.

What is the significance of the hex sign in Pennsylvania?

Some view the designs as decorative symbols of ethnic identification, possibly originating in reaction to 19th century attempts made by the government to suppress the Pennsylvania German language. Anabaptist sects (like the Amish and Mennonites) in the region have a negative view of hex signs, and they are rarely, if ever, seen on an Amish or Mennonite household or farm.

What is the origin of the hex sign?

There is also the belief that the origin leading to the word "hex sign" is that English settlers mispronounced the German word for six, "sechs", as "hex". In recent years, hex signs have come to be used by non–Pennsylvania Dutch persons as talismans for folk magic rather ...

What is a 12 point compass?

12-pointed compass rose on a hex sign. Hex signs are a form of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, related to fraktur, found in the Fancy Dutch tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Barn paintings, usually in the form of "stars in circles", began to appear on the landscape in the early 19th century and became widespread decades later ...

What does a dove represent?

Modern artists may stress the symbolic meanings, for example, a horse head is used to protect animals from disease and the building from lightning and a dove represents peace and contentment.

When was the hex sign first used?

However, the term "hex sign" was not used until the 20th century, after 1924 when Wallace Nutting's book Pennsylvania Beautiful was published. Nutting, who was not a Pennsylvania native, interviewed farmers about their distinctive barn decoration.

Where did the word "hex" come from?

There are two opposing schools of belief regarding the derivation of the name. The term hex with occult connotations may derive from the Pennsylvanian German word "hex" (German "Hexe", Dutch "Heks"), meaning " witch ".

Overview

Form and use

Controversy over origins

See also

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