A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOODEN CRAFT ITEMS

Since ancient times, our ancestors have used handmade crafted items for many things used on a daily basis. Those were mostly the common items, such as tables, chairs, beds, cookers, or cabbage trays, but also those not so common, such as handmade toys for children, dog houses, pots and the like. The materials used to make these items were different. In most cases, materials that were around were used, most commonly wood. Wooden craft items were made mostly during the winter when there was no work in the field. Some of those wooden craft items, in time, have been saved and they are now looked at as a unique piece of artwork.

At first, people used to make larger objects, such as tables, chairs, beds, or wine barrels. Today, even in remote rural areas of the world, people who make, for example, wooden objects in the traditional way are less likely to meet. It is not impossible to find them, but there are not so many. The reason is that the manual production of all objects, including those made of wood, is much more difficult than, say, mechanical. Although you can never find such a beautifully crafted wood object as one that has the love and attention of a village artist woven into it. Fortunately, today there are people who are trying to save most of the old crafts, so more and more contemporary artists, as well as “ordinary” people, are engaged in various forms of manual craft labor, that is, trying to preserve the different traditional folk craft. There are more and more so-called old craft stores all around the world, where the works of these mostly anonymous artists can be seen and bought.

Very interesting items were made from wood, such as spindles, jigsaws, cutting boards, but also boxes for different purposes, most often for storing bread or all kinds of food. The creators of such interesting objects were real virtuosos. Every movement and detail was taken care of, and when the item was completed, in most ancient cultures it was given to talented women from the village, in order to be decorated. This is how the real unique works of art came into existence.

In those ancient times, in most European and Asian cultures, the newlyweds usually received a handmade bedroom from their parents as a gift, with the beauty of which they have enjoyed all their lives. What is a special advantage of this so-called antique furniture made mainly of wood is its durability, but also the quality of the material. The masters of the time especially took care of the choice of wood. Maybe that is why this furniture is back in every day lives, so in many contemporary homes, you can see pieces of that type of antique furniture.

Today we can also often come across wooden decorative objects. So it is possible to buy, for example, decorative planks, which are put mostly in the kitchen or, in other words, decorated cheaters, or window dressings. All of these wooden craft items have proven to be very durable and much healthier than the items made today, which were made with lots of metal parts. The artisans of that time made all the necessary furniture, as well as other wooden craft items, which were passed on from generation to generation, because it was made to be durable and of high quality.