Objects

A preliminary sketch with an interior view of the kitchen, with a simple wooden table in the middle on which a samovar, a glass with a spoon and a sugar bowl are set. Next to a school bench, we also see a coal cooker, and a white sink. A staircase leads to the room, and there are no windows, which suggests that the scene is taking place in a basement. A samovar standing on the table – a device popular in the Russian empire for preparing tea, the most famous of which were samovars from the Tule factory – suggests that this is a design for a play consisting of three one-act plays by Sholem Aleichem, Yakenhuz. Oylem habo, Mensh [Wieczór Szołem Alejchemowski; Sholem Aleichem Evening] directed by Ida Kamińska, which premiered on 4 March 1950, at the State Jewish Theatre in Łódź, and for which Pacanowski prepared the set design together with the painter Aleksander Bogen. In the upper left corner of the sketch is an inscription in pen: "I agree 6/6 60" and an illegible signature (by Ida Kamińska); in addition, numbers and notes are written in red crayon. After the director had accepted this preparatory study, the set designer was ready to present the final project (see MPOLIN-M1152).

Renata Piątkowska