Coffee is not always a beverage prepared from cocoa beans. Cereal grains (chicory) and even less obvious ingredients like acorns are also used to make coffee. In Obyczaje w Polsce od Średniowiecza do czasów współczesnych, Lidia Korczak writes about coffee prepared from broad beans, wheat or roasted peas...

The basic method for moulding the salt bed in the Wieliczka mine was to tear it out with the use of iron wedges; the cuboid blocks were then treated and transformed into barrel shapes or a cylinder for trading purposes. Those blocks were the main product of salt mines in the region of Kraków for six centuries — from the second half of the 13...

This Art Nouveau dish, in the form of a bowl with a wavy irregular collar, is a very delicate and fragile object. It was handmade from glass blown on an iron rod, the so-called punty. At the bottom of the salt shaker, there is a grounded star sign visible after the cut off of the punty. Next to it, there are L. C. T. signs indicating the artist.

Although today chocolate is associated mainly with pleasure, a pleasure that can be denied to oneself while watching one’s weight or Lent fasting, it used to be recommended by priests during fast days. In the 18^th century, together with coffee, chocolate was quite present in pharmacies, used in medicinal mixtures and was approved as a cure for rheumatism and even as a treatment for sore throats. 

What do a cobalt vase and a Japanese emperor have in common? This vase is a gift from the Japanese court donated to the Manggha Museum during the visit of the Japanese emperor, Akihito, and his wife, Michiko, on 11 July 2002. This porcelain vase with a wooden base is ornamented with the imperial chrysanthemum – an emblem representing the imperial title in Japan.

The process of producing vessels of white porcelain is regarded as being exceptionally difficult, since, as it is baked in a furnace, small particles can easily permeate inside, and they can dye the porcelain forms, thus disrupting the whole process. One of the most outstanding contemporary hakuji artist is Manji Inoue (born 1929), the Japanese creator who was awarded, in 1995, with the honourable title of “The Living National Treasure” (Ningen Kokuhō).

The spoon rack was one of the elements of the traditional furnishing of a Podhale cottage. It usually hung between the entrance door from the hall and the dish shelf in the black room, which was called thus because of the colour of the smoked walls. This room catered to the everyday life of a highlanders’ family; it served as a bedroom, kitchen, workshop and storage for all kinds of farm equipment and tools. A spoon rack, or several spoon racks in wealthier households, was also hung in the white room, which served as a place for meetings and family celebrations...

In the case of the Tarnów collection, the cultural background of the epoch has its counterparts in the Sarmatian culture, characterised by the owner’s need for the ostentatious presentation of his affluence and wealth. The primacy of nobility and magnates, who were in possession of huge estates and enjoyed wide privileges in the 18^th century, influenced the development and industrialisation of the country.

The decoration engraved on the bowl depicts the mythological scene presenting Orpheus sitting under a tree and playing the lyre, surrounded by animals. On the other side the inscription, “Orpheus playing assumedly with a tree and animals”, with spelling mistakes, which allows for attributing this exhibit to Saxon engravers from the Hein family working at that time in the Radziwiłł glassworks in Naliboki.