The interior of Lach cottages was modest. Dishes and household utensils were usually wooden and simple, with functionality as their most important feature, and the forms often remaining unchanged for many years. Such utensils were usually made at home. Only some of them, such as a stove or earthenware dishes were ordered from local artisans or purchased at fairs. The Lachs did not have richly decorated furnishings; most pieces of furniture demonstrate the attention to aesthetics typical for rural artists, i.e., expressed in harmonious form and proportions and in the decorative details of an object. This part of the exhibition presents two clothing chests called ‘wianne’ (dowry chests) that a young woman getting married used to receive from her parents with her dowry. The older ‘sarcophagus’ chest, made of hard beechwood, has a characteristic shape and columnar structure and is decorated with a carved geometrical pattern. Such chests could be found everywhere in the Carpathian Mountains and were initially used to store clothes. When painted chests came into fashion at the turn of the 20th century, the older ones were considered old-fashioned and began to be used for the storage of food products. Another chest type is a dowry chest made of coniferous tree planks with an elaborate, painted floral ornament. Next to the Lach chest is a wardrobe with a double-leaf door painted with symmetrical floral patterns; this type of furniture began to be used in the 1920s. Other exhibits include a shelf for dishes and a shelf for bowls and cups – each with openwork decorations, a bench with a back support and adjustable seat and two bed backrests with elaborate decorations carved in wood. A small table and a simple bench are also displayed.
Furniture, the Lachs of Sącz Museum, Podegrodzie
Beacon