Haslemere Educational Museum
Ethnography
Western - Peasant Arts
Our unique and important European Peasant Art collection consists of approximately 1,300 ceramic, metal and wooden handicrafts. Gathered from across Europe before the First World War, the Peasant Art collection includes rare and ancient examples of peasant craftsmanship from the continent’s remoter regions. At that time it seemed to many observers that the traditional skills of the European peasantry were on the verge of extinction. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, a number of local luminaries such as Godfrey Blount and Joseph King championed the preservation of those things made “for love not money.”Examples of ‘peasant arts’ were collected from the extremities of Europe in order to inspire local artisans and keep traditional skills alive. A major collector along side King and Blount was Reverend Gerald S. Davies, a master at Charterhouse school in Godalming. He travelled widely across Europe gathering woodwork, metal work and textiles. His extensive collection of exquisite and fine crafts were integrated into the Peasant Art Society’s collection and this formed the Haslemere Peasant Handicraft Museum in 1905. The museum officially opened for public enjoyment in 1910 above a shop at No.1 The Pavement in the High Street. It disbanded in 1926 and the unique and important collections moved to their current location at Haslemere Museum.
There are over 700 of these artefacts from the original Peasant Art collection in our museum today. The history of the peasant art movement and its connections with Haslemere is explained more fully in our publication ‘The Lost Arts of Europe: The Haslemere Museum collection of European Peasant Art’ a collection of essays edited by David Crowley and Lou Taylor which is available for purchase from our museum shop.
The majority of items in this collection come from Eastern European countries such as Russia and Northern European countries such as Iceland, Norway and Finland. The artefacts are everyday objects, for example food containers, furniture and domestic implements, made beautiful by handcrafted finishes.Highlights from the Collection
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| Mangleboard from Gudbrandsdal, Norway |
A good example of an everyday item made beautiful is a mangleboard, an item used in the domestic routine of cleaning textiles and clothes. A cylindrical roller would accompany the flat board and wet linen, wound around the roller, would be rolled back and forth on the table and pressed using the board. Mangleboards were also used as gifts, representing and cementing social relations. The gift would often be inscribed with the giver’s initials and the dates - this was a definite act of betrothal or engagement. These love tokens were treasured and passed on through families.
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| Hand painted bouraki from the Province of Vologda in Russia. |
It is decorated with a cockeral-like bird (a symbol of male potency) and a blooming regional flower. They are watertight and were used for taking food or drink to the fields and gathering berries.
In traditional Russian folklore birch carried mythical significance. During celebrations marking the return of spring after Easter the birch tree was associated with spirits known as Rusalki. These sprite like characters emerged from rivers and lakes to live in forests and fields, thereby restoring life to the land. They were sometimes represented as young women. The birch tree was also important to the peasant economy, with communities using it for tools, soap and medicine. The production of bouraki became a major source of trade during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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| Stofje (foot warmer) from Denmark. |
Coals were placed inside on earthenware dishes. They were used within the home, carriages and taken to churches. They are made from strong dark oak and carved with bold geometric patterns. Sometimes these boxes were painted on the base as they were hung from ceilings.
