The Blacksmithing Legacy of Tržič in the National Museum of Slovenia

Abstract

The article presents research on the material legacy of the Tržič smithies, which is kept in the National Museum of Slovenia. It outlines the history of Tržič’s ironworking and blacksmithing industries, as well as examines objects produced in the Tržič ironworks and smithies that now form part of the collections held by the National Museum of Slovenia. The primary focus of our research was on the time and circumstances under which the objects concerned were acquired by the Provincial Museum of Carniola, the direct precursor of the National Museum of Slovenia. The research results shed new knowledge on the museum’s early history, the acquisition of objects as well as the provenance of some products, for which we formerly had no data concerning their origin and date of production. A few pieces of new information were also obtained on the donor and the then owner of the seigniory of Tržič, Baron Joseph Dietrich.