Through many years of compiling we built up a collection of items connected with smithery. However only when we got equipment from Józef & Jan Chałupka's smithy, which included all necessary tools for work, we were provoked to construct the object. It is aimed at the fullest presentation of the craft. Additionally, the building considerably varies and simultaneously supplements our open-air ethnographic architecture.
The smithy from Ziemin in Grodziski district was taken as an example of this kind of architecture in our region. However its technical condition prevented us from moving it. Built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it had not served its original function for years and year after year it looked increasingly poorer. That was the reason we decided to make a copy of it. It meant that sticking to original designs we recreated, by means of new materials, a similar building. One should admit that some elements have been tailored to our needs. For example, a chimney has got other (standard in the region) perch. Covered outlets limit the spread of sparks and the same decrease the chance of fire. That is the cause for locating smithies far from other buildings, usually at crossroads.
The brick smithy is equipped with a wooden arcade. A one-room interior is lit by symmetrically arranged windows with sloping brick window sills (to prevent tools from falling down). The chimney together with the hearth is located centrally at the back wall of the building. In front of it there is an anvil left on a quite big block. On the table, to the right, there is a set of indispensable tools: hammers, pliers, screw taps, swages, drills. To the left there is a driller (bormaszyna) and a pair of bellows for pressing air, later replaced by a more advanced fan. |
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The work of a smith was very hard and demanded great dexterity. At the beginning it was about production of different tools useful for work. Of course, his duties also included repairing items he had forged before. When industrial products entered the countryside, repair work became a basic activity. So in practice, a smith turned into a mechanic. And of course, he continued shoeing horses. He also administered minor treatments and pulled out teeth. Nowadays, we meet an artistic form of smithery the most frequently. Nevertheless, the craft is one of the few which has survived changes that has taken place in or affected a folk life.
A social rank of a smith was very high and a profession itself was very respected in the country, often made over from father to son. Moreover, the job guaranteed quite decent income. Smiths had a lot of work and were busy all year long. Our worker, thanks to some practice under the late Józef Chałupka's tutelage, who has worked 50 years in the profession, from time to time presents this beautiful craft "live".
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