Storage vessel with wiring

A resource vessel in the form of a large double-necked pot is a useful household item and was once very popular. They stored a variety of liquid, loose and solid products. The shape of the pot on display, with its very wide spout and capacious interior, suggests that it was used in the household, if only for pickling cucumbers. The material used also speaks in favour of this form of use. Stoneware is a variety of ceramic with high mechanical strength and resistance to acids and low permeability. Investing in a large, practical pot used to be a significant expense for most rural households, so pots that broke were not thrown away immediately. An extension of their use was to wire the vessel, i.e. to wrap it extremely tightly with a wire mesh so that it compressed the parts that were spreading at the point of breakage. It may have been simple, but it was not at all easy to make a good interlacing to strengthen the vessel and at the same time prevent it from cracking further. This type of vessel repair was usually carried out by wire workers, small craftsmen, usually itinerant, who also made small household items from wire, such as mouse traps, animal cages, clasps or toys. When they reached the village, usually in its main square called nawsiem, they would set up their workshop and the housewives would bring cracked pots, which they would wire for a small fee. Iwona Karwowska