All the way until the middle 19th century, Serbia was an extremely forest-rich country, so it is no wonder that the central part of Serbia is still known as Šumadija, meaning “forest land”. Wood was the most widely available material that could be used for making anything that may be necessary in the daily life, from utilities to music instruments or tools. These objects had its function, but were often also a means to express aesthetical values or the status of an individual within a community.

The carved wooden chairs were always intended for the host or a prominent guest, while other members of the family would sit on undecorated tripod chairs. Sticks were used to assist walking and shepherding, but were also a signifier of the head of the village. Some of the most beautiful examples of “native art” are the house doors decorated with woodcutting. Almost all of the objects were decorated – from tiny ones like spoon handles, all the way to chests, which are nowadays regarded as supreme examples of folk art.

All of these objects were built from wood which, as a material, created the general framework of everyday secular life, with cabin-churches as the home of spiritual life. Interiors of all settlements were furnished almost exclusively with wooden objects. Complete homeware, especially in village houses, was wooden: chests for keeping textile, sitting tripods, dining tables, barrels for keeping flour and preparing bread, clothes, cutlery and dishes.

The treatment of wood could have been anything from simple gouging, over polishing and carving that was used to make kitchen dishes and cutlery for everyday use, to very sophisticated matching and joining of chests, carving of sticks, doors and other objects that are expected to be extremely durable. The making process could also include tearing, hacking, bending and assembling, while for larger barrels it also required drilling and digging.

All of the wooden items were produced in households, and these were mostly male jobs. We can assume that even before the emergence of specialized craftsmen, which in most of Serbia took place over the course of 19th century, there were men who were more skilled than others in certain jobs. This sort of specialization within a village household was possible only in big families, where there was enough men to deal with all of the necessary daily work.

Today, almost all skills and crafts related to the treatment of wood are being regarded as “old crafts”, as most of them faded away during the process in which industrial products made of more recent materials took the place of everyday wooden objects. Knowledge-holders are still present across the Balkans, demonstrating admiring skillfulness and creativity, bridging centuries-old techniques with the divine art of improvisation, capable of making almost anything you can imagine.