WIRE THINGS

Tinker's profession used to be traditional supplementary folk profession in the area of door to door business in Slovakia. For two centuries it was the main source of income in the northern part of Trencin's county (Zupa) and also some parts of Eastern Slovakia (Saris and Spis). Tinkers made different useful items from tin and wire for every day's needs of village and towns people. From 18th to beginning of 20th century they created many useful items from iron wire such as different hangers, hanging baskets for kitchen utensils, some kinds of kitchen cookware, spoons, forks, different mats, bird cages, pipe cleaners and others. Tinkers made these items by simple twisting and weaving of wire with unusual skill and individual ornamental design. Basic form elements were spirals, circles, weavers, and nets.

Important creative ability of Slovak tinkers is proven by their figural creations. They depict human and animal figures, airships, airplanes, and others. Children's toys that the tinkers used to make by their main work while resting are also proof of their artistic creativity and skillfulness.

Tinkers profession was completely pushed out with time during the post war economic crisis. Now we can bring closer this fragile beauty of these items only through works of few today’s creators-self learners, or descendants of original tinkers, who stayed faithful to this profession and didn't let the "tinkers kumšt" fall to dust and be forgotten. Most of the works are made from nickel-plated softer copper wire. Thicker wire is used for support; thinner for ornamental work and the thinnest wire is used to wrap the connections. The only instruments used for this work are splitting players, pointy players, rounded players, hammer, and wooden or metal rods of different thickness used for twisting the wire. The egg on the picture is from a collection of my friend from Vysehradne Rastislav Haronik. The material used is a copper wire.

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Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 6, No. 1, Spring 1998
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1998 
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.