The
number of exhibits of the department is relatively small (over 2,000
items); yet several interesting collections can be singled out. The
most precious is the collection of jewelry - one of the best
collections in Poland, consisting of about 500 objects. It provides
insight into the 19th-century jewelry and illustrates typical materials,
characteristic forms, and basic changes in the style of decorations
worn at that time. The uniqueness of the collection is represented
by numerous exhibits of the so-called "parlante jewelry",
i.e. sentimental, mourning, or patriotic pieces of jewelry, made of
human hair. The origin of the collection dates back to the year 1978,
when the Museum purchased a collection from Ludwik Waszkiewicz, 
a
deputy to the Polish Seym, a freedom fighter of the First and Second
World Wars, an activist of the National Workers' Association, a co-organizer
of the general strike of textile workers of 1927, a historian and
keen collector of mementoes of the period of struggle for independence.
This part of the collection has been published in the catalogue entitled
"Zbiory Biżuterii Muzeum Okręgowego w Koninie."
In the recent years we have been gathering exhibits for the new collection
of the 20th-century women's clothing and accessories. Here, a
collection by the fashion designer Grażyna Hase, is the one that deserves
most attention. The Museum has been cooperating with the author of
the collection for a few years.
The remaining exhibits of the Department are carefully selected to
be exposed in interiors. Among them are: furniture, fabrics, glass,
ceramics, and numerous trinkets. Today these exhibits are displayed
in a 19th-century reconstructed manor house.
An
important aspect of the crafts collections is Art Nouveau, represented
by fabrics, ceramics, plated artifacts, artistic objects made of tin
and glass. The collection includes products of such famous companies
as Galle', Daum, Pallme Konig & Habel.
The glass collection has typical objects of the third and fourth quarters
of the 19th century, while the ceramics is represented by products
of such Polish companies as Korzec and Baranówka and foreign factories
Miśnia and Sevres.
In spite of its modesty, the collections of the Department of Arts
and Crafts are interesting for both connoisseurs and the Museum regulars.
