Objects

Upon returning to the occupied house when the German army withdrew from Orchów, the host family found cutlery left behind by the summer visitors, and cutlery decorated with a swastika that had been left behind by the retreating German soldiers, who had occupied the house during the war. The cutlery, however, was sold over time by a family member.

The first of five dessert spoons has the maker's signature "M. KLOCMAN" visible on the back of the handle. The maker is not widely known in the literature, which indicates a small factory run most likely by a family of that name. The teaspoons have no additional markings, but based on their physical appearance (patina, abrasions, scratches), it can be inferred that they were also plated with a thin layer of a more resistant metal (plated). Like the tablespoon, the smaller teaspoons also allude to the art déco style fashionable in the interwar period. The end of the straight and slightly widening handle was decorated with a step. Three consecutive indentations on the edges of the handle create the effect of three steps with straight edges. With each successive step, the handle becomes narrower. The effect is emphasised by the straight grooves, which run diagonally from the edge of the step to meet in one place at about one-fifth of the length of the handle from its edge. The combination of the indentations that form the steps and the grooves that emphasise them created an effect reminiscent of a fan.

Marta Frączkiewicz