After moving the collections of contemporary art to the Four Domes Pavilion, the National Museum gained exhibition space, which will house an applied art exhibition. "Now we will be able to present our unique and very substantial collections," says Piotr Oszczanowski, director of the National Museum. "With time, Galeria na Strychu (the Attic Gallery) will evolve into a permanent gallery of arts and crafts, where the art of the Orient of our collections will be presented.
"The Carpenter's Art. Furniture of the 15th-17th c." is an exhibition prepared by the eminent specialist in old furniture, Małgorzata Korżel-Kraśna. "For the first time in the history of the National Museum we are showing our collections representing furniture, from Gothic, to Renaissance to early Baroque, a total of 250 exhibits. I wanted the audience to focus their attention on the development of carpentry, as well as the technical side of creating and building furniture," explains Mrs. Korżel-Kraśna. "The turning point in the history of carpentry was the year 1322. It was then that the water saw was invented, and cutting wood into thin boards was made possible. The next breakthrough was the development of a frame-panelled construction in the fifteenth century in Flanders," explains the curator of the exhibition. "This allowed the carpenters to build ready-made furniture components of thin planks. What was invented in carpentry survived to our times, even the tools are the same: the plainer or the saw haven't changed their function.
At the exhibition, we can trace the chronological development of the carpenter craft. The oldest furniture is storage trunks. The first were carved in tree trunks, and the lids were hinged on metal strips. Subsequent boxes were more advanced, with delightful ornaments - inlaid with stained wood, carved decorations and with rich ornamentation. We'll see, among others, Silesian trunks decorated with green wood and figurine-shaped inlays. In subsequent rooms you can admire all kinds of boxes for storing documents, writing accessories, games, or other small objects. The beautifully decorated pulpit called pultynek, with elaborate engravings, might have served for storing sewing supplies.
We will also see various types of cabinets - boxlike furniture with lots of drawers, cupboards and wardrobes, tables, chairs, armchairs and even wooden frame for a copper basin with a fish-shaped tap. Exhibition cabinets also include carpenter's tools, and a presentation of different types of wood, and ways of cutting and combining it.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue "The furniture of the 15th-17th c." by the curator of the exhibition, Małgorzata Korżel-Kraśna. This is the first such comprehensive study devoted to the furniture of the 15th - 17th century from a Polish collection. The museum has prepared a guide to the exhibition for children.
"The Carpenter's Art. Furniture of the 15th-17th c." at the National Museum
Exhibition/For anyone
from 18 October 2016 to 31 December 2016 
The National Museum in Wroclaw
