Wooden chest

Wooden chest

The interior of former farmhouses were very modest, but even the poorest homes had at least one wooden chest in the bedroom or other rooms. Before tall wardrobes became widespread at the end of the 19th century, the few pieces of clothing and linens were stored exclusively in chests.

In principle, all chests were the same; they differed only in the wood used and the front panel. The latter were often richly decorated: some were painted, others carved, and the most admired were the chests with marquetry. The patterns were mostly geometric or floral, and the makers often added the year of construction to the decoration.

Most of the chests came to the house when a couple got married, as they were a mandatory part of the bride's dowry.

The Tolmin Museum bought this beautifully carved wooden chest from the Koren family in Kobarid in 1966; it is now kept in the birth house of Simon Gregorčič in Vrsno.