European Jobs of the Past

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A brief history of Sicilian embroidery
In Sicily the great art of embroidery flourished around the year 1,000 A.D. during the domination of the Saracens. The Byzantines, who occupied Sicily before the Saracens, were excellent embroiderers together with the ancient Greeks. Sicily, as we know, was conquered by a lot of different peoples who had lived peacefully on the island for a long time, so it is probably that the best of all embroideries were produced under the Normans, the Byzantines, the Saracens, the Greeks and the Roman-Catholic Christians.

Sicilian drawn thread work

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 It is typical of Sicily. Its origins can be found on netting in the rest of Italy. The first production of Sicilian drawn thread work starts between 1000s and 1100s. The Sicilian drawn thread technique arises in the provinces of Syracuse, Ragusa and Catania, in the eastern part of Sicily. It consists of various steps: the design, the drawn thread work and the embroidery. Each phase is usually worked by a different person who is an expert in that particular technique.

On 5th Nov 2009 we went on a trip to Gorzyce to check if there is someone from our region who actually Works as an artistic Smith. At first, the driver had some trouble with finding the way but with the help of passers-by we quickly reached the Wright place. About 11 o’clock we parked our bus in front of an inconspicuous bricked house where, they said, the smith was living.
Mr Wieslaw Grochola came to us and greeted us with joy. Then, he invited us to his forge. There we met his helper who was standing next to a small hearth. Mr Wieslaw explained us what they use it for, showed us his tools and machines. After that, he gave a short show of making primitive smith’s tools. We recorded it on the camera and Pawel was taking lots of photos. The man with great enthusiasm made, warmed and decorated the horseshoe. One of our friends even had the chance of helping the smith and he found out that this job was not as easy as it seemed.
The smith made a few other tools for our headmaster and school: a horseshoe, that was supposed to bring luck, a devil who, as the legend says, was prowling through the countryside. Next, we went to a private garage full of different tools and smith’s devices. Some of them were very old, even form the 19th century. However, our greatest attention attracted a handmade hearth showing hell. After a short explanation about the destination of these things (antique grinds, rakes etc.) Mr Wieslaw invited us to his house. There, in the hall, a small display of the most beautiful products he had made so far, awaited us. There were chairs, candlesticks, necklaces and even a lamp. After that, we were taken to the living-room where we found some odds and ends and a lamp also made by Mr Grochola.
Everybody got cold during our visit in the smithy so we willingly drank some tea. In a meantime we started talking. The atmosphere was great. After a short interview with the Smith we had to say goodbye.
In the name of the whole school our teacher thanked the Smith for giving us some time to see his work and to realize our tasks connected with smithery for our Comenius Project.

In the past, Cornwall, the most Southwesterly county(region) of the UK, was famous for mining and fishing as seen on the Coat of Arms of the county council.

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