Monday 24 July 2017

Ancient artifacts

Retrieved from the rubbish



My sister-in-law rescued these two items from the rubbish left out on the street.  I'm glad she did.  My mother-in-law used a  basket like this for collecting the olives.  The other paddle-like object is actually used for beating carpets.  I have never seen one before though my sister-in-law told me they used to have one.

It is a short, wide paddle, made out of wood.  The thing that surprised me was the weight of it.  It must have weighed at least two kilos.  Beating a carpet with that must have been very hard work.



  This, called a  'kouralou', used to be made on the loom, as shown below.  I have one my m-in-law made but it is hidden away so these pics are from the www.  


Long and shorter versions of these were put down on the floors in the wintertime and cleaned in the spring.  They have recently come back into fashion but are rather light and very easy to trip over.






This a bronze/copper vessel also retrieved from the rubbish, this time by my husband.  It is extremely heavy and made from two different metals.  I'm not sure what it would have been used for but it would make a great fruit bowl.



This portable tray was used to carry glasses of water, cups of greek coffee from the small cafenion nearby to shops and offices.  You called out over the road or made a quick phone call with your order and a few minutes later a young lad would come running in with your coffee and maybe another cup for a visitor to your place of business.  We bought this years ago for K.  He used to sit on the wall outside with his cronies in the evening and we would take out a coffee or an ouzo for them.

I doubt you'll find these on sale anywhere now and they are certainly no longer in use on this island.  Now you  get your take-away coffee in a plastic glass and if your visitor wants a coffee he goes and gets his own.




This wooden trough was used by my m-in-law to knead her weekly bread dough.  She used to keep it under the bed along with pillowcases of homemade noodles and dried oregano.  I retrieved it intending to use it for the same purpose but it ended up hanging on the wall.
  

Pithari - giant clay pot                                                                



A big clay pot once used by my inlaws, this time to store the olive oil that was used in the house.  It is about a metre tall. By the time I came along they had moved along to modern stainless steel drums which held a larger amount of olive oil for the growing family.




An oil scoop.

My inlaws used a shell like this to scoop the oil out of the clay pot and into a glass bottle for use in the kitchen.  I think my sis-in-law still has the original shell in her stainless steel oil tank.  It must be over 50 years old now.  This is one given to us by a friend who is a diver.   It needed a long time before the creature inside dried up and stopped stinking.

The shell is the perfect size and shape for a scoop.  It is quite easy to hold, floats on the top of the oil and has a nice flow which does not spill all over the place.


15 comments:

  1. One mans trash is another mans treasure
    My grandmother had many of those carpets she had made in her home
    I now see them for sale in the $2 shops. But they just aren't the same

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    1. They came back into fashion. I thought about buying one for the kitchen but I hated them when I first came here and they really are dangerous. So easy to trip over

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  2. If somebody else doesn't want them, put them to good use. It's life's way of dealing with things. Sorry for not posting sooner, but I've changed my website's look again. I must be in charge for a change.

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    1. If we put something we think might be useful beside the rubbish bin instead of in it, the object is sure to disappear very quickly. Recycling!
      I prefer your web site the way you have it now. Good change

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  3. It amazes me the things people throw away. Real treasures.

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    1. Especially that brass/bronze bowl! But it was definitely being thrown out. It has joined our pile of 'treasures'

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  4. Like Cro I am amazed at what is thrown away. That olive basket was in perfect condition. And that carpet beater I would love to have for my rugs. I would guess that the people throwing the items away were not very knowledgeable about thrift and real life.

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    1. The carpet beater is so heavy, you'd have a good set of arm muscles after thrashing your carpets!

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  5. You could collect all these antiques and sell them. I think they would look great in holday homes. I like the portable tray.

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    1. Exactly. Some should be in the local folk museum. I'm glad we have them now

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  6. OMG I love everything in this post. The huge urn, and the shell scoop. My favourite is the bread trough. History sitting in your living house. What could be better.

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    1. The bread trough needs some work to it, sanding down, filling the holes and painting. One day. Definitely worth it. Over 70 years old and very well used

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  7. Wow I love that clay pot!.
    Would have plants growing out of it!.
    Don,t worry would not fit in hand luggage and Scottish winter would freeze and destroy it!.

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    1. Another one I did use as a big pot which I regretted later. The soil compacts in there and it is very hard to get out asd replace, almost impossible and eventually the roots of something cracked the pot and it was thrown out.

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  8. There are undoubtedly millions of amazing artifacts from the ancient world that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from ...
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