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THE CHARM OF
OLD CRAFTS IN KREMNICA
COPPERSMITHS
Kremnica
Copper working was an important metal
working craft. Local sources of copper and local demand guaranteed
favorable conditions for the development of copper working. Craftsmen made
kettles of various shapes, pots, pans, cans; flasks, dishes, and
candlestick holders from easily worked copper plate, by hammering cold on
the anvil. Kitchen utensils or vessels, which came into contact with food
or drink, were tin plated inside, so that poisonous compounds of copper
would not get into the food. Various types of mold for making biscuits
were among the more demanding products for the coppersmiths. The
responsibilities of the masters included covering roofs with copper
plates. Production of sculpture was a relatively rare activity of
coppersmiths. A moneybox from Kremnicke Bane, depicting the severed head
of John the Baptist is a unique example of this type from the end of the
16th century.
Coppersmiths did not have an
independent guild in Kremnica. They probably belonged to the Bratislava
guild (founded in 1688), that organized the coppersmiths of Lower Hungary.
We have a record of coppersmiths from 1761, in connection with the
participation of craftsmen in a procession with flags, which states that
the smiths, locksmiths, gun makers, belt makers, bell founders, and
coppersmiths marched under the same flag. The list of inhabitants from
1777 mentions two coppersmiths, who employed three journeymen.
A kettle or carafe was the emblem of
the coppersmiths.
GO
BACK TO OLD CRAFTS
Reprinted from: The Charm
of Old Crafts, PhDr. Ludmila Nemeskurthiova
Published by © National Bank
of Slovakia-Museum of Coins and Medals Kremnica 1998
Published in the Slovak Heritage
Live newsletter Volume 7, No. 2, Summer 1999
3804 Yale Street, Burnaby, British
Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced,
republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without
the express written permission of Vladimir
Linder. All rights reserved.
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