Various items of the time

A corner of the household as it appeared in the first half of the twentieth century, before electricity reached every home in the region. At the centre stands a kerosene lamp with its tall glass chimney, the main source of light after dark and one of the most valued objects in the house. Around it are the items of daily hospitality: a silver-plated teapot with its strainer, porcelain demitasse cups and saucers for coffee, and a glazed earthenware water jar with a brass tap, its mouth covered by a hand-worked lace cloth to keep the water clean. A copper pan hangs on the wall, and small framed family portraits stand nearby, the household's own record of itself. Together these objects describe a domestic world in which light was carefully tended, water was stored and served with ceremony, and a guest was never received without coffee.