Recognising and understanding the object
- Materials
- pine or birch wood
- Parts
- thin split sliver
- Purpose
- Light a small working area.
- Period
- Context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century household collections and historical accounts; individual objects differ in date.
- Place and distribution
- Dzūkija household history presented by Alytus Museum.
What it is and how it works
A balana is a thin wooden splint burned for light. Alytus Museum mentions pine and birch examples. The wood itself is consumed: there is no liquid reservoir or separate wick mechanism. This makes it a different kind of light source from an oil lamp.
Evidence and examples
A holder, the žibinčius, freed the user’s hands, but the splint still needed replacing as it burned away. In a display, look beyond the large stand to the small consumable element that made it useful. A surviving splint and the apparatus holding it are different objects.
How to identify it
It is helpful to think of splint light as illumination for a limited working area. When reading a recollection, note the task, the person tending the light and the season. These questions connect the object to the organisation of an evening. They reveal more than simply treating every old lighting device as an emblem of poverty.
