Sprzęty domowe i przedmioty „pomniejsze dziecięce” w Polsce doby preindustrialnej

• Authors: Dorota Żołądź-Strzelczyk

Title variants

EN

CHILDREN’S FURNITURE AND UTENSILS IN POLAND IN THE PRE-INDUSTRIAL ERA

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article presents the world of objects intended for children on the basis of varied and mutually complementary sources, including texts (pedagogical treatises, diaries, inventories), iconography and items from museum collections. Despite extensive research, information on objects functioning in children’s space has turned out to be scarce and fragmentary. Most data concern upper class children; very little is known about children from the lowest social strata. The objects discussed in the article are divided into several groups. The first one is connected with sleeping; it includes cradles for babies (trough-shaped, rocking and suspended cradles), beds for older children (which were shared with other children or adults) bedclothes and bed linen (eiderdowns, quilts, bed sheets, pillows, bolsters). The second group is connected with sitting – these are various seats for children of different age (including “running stools”, whose modern counterparts are baby walkers). The third group is connected with feeding and hygiene, including washing vessels (bathtubs, bowls and pourers), towels, chamber pots, combs, prototypes of contemporary baby’s bottles, spouts, bowls and spoons. Many of the items described in the article can be found in paintings showing the birth of Mary (a cradle, washing vessels), the Holy Family (a cradle, a comb), the Adoration of the Baby Jesus (beds and bed linen), the Virgin with the Child (a bottle, bowls, spoons), as well as in votive paintings (beds, cradles). The final part of the article discusses special rooms for children. In some social spheres they appeared in the 18th c. but in wider circles only in the 19th c. Before that time, children, even of highest social classes, shared rooms with adults, often with servants, sometimes with their nannies, nursemaids or governesses. A closer look at the objects that surround children and facilitate their development reveals that those most useful have been known for centuries; some were invented in the antiquity. Cradles, beds, walkers and all kinds of feeding vessels are also used nowadays. After the decades of using plastic, now they are again often made of natural materials, so also in this respect they resemble their counterparts from centuries ago.

Keywords

EN

CHILDREN’S UTENSILS; HOUSEHOLD GOODS; TOYS

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 419-424

Contributors

author

Dorota Żołądź-Strzelczyk

• Zakład Historii Wychowania, Wydział Studiów Edukacyjnych, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, ul. Szamarzewskiego 89, 60-568 Poznań