Collections

The archaeological collection of the Western Slovakian Museum in Trnava is one of the largest museum collection of archaeological findings in Slovakia. There are about 13 000 objects in its fund. The fund houses findings obtained from the accidental discovery during construction works and field research of the Western Slovakian Museum and other institutions. The collection consists of painted pottery from the Neolithic period (the village Abraham), medieval objects from Trnava, findings of stone tools, bronze jewelry, iron tools and weapons from the locations around Trnava. The archaeological collection was enriched by the findings of Germanic settlement from the Roman period in Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou, from the early Iron Age (Hallstatt) Smolenice hillfort - Molpír, from the hillfort of Prašník from the Bronze Age and unique findings from the Trnava town hall facilities originated in the 15th century.

The ethnographic collection houses about 3800 functional articles made from wood and metal, as well as utility and decorative items made from wicker, straw, wood chips and corn husk. The core collection consists of items related to agricultural and winegrower´s activities and breeding of domestic animals – ploughs, yokes, flails, wine presses and tubs, collars and the like. Other objects are used for the processing of vegetable fibers and the manufacturing of textiles - combs, scrutch blades, reels, spindles, spinning wheels and looms. Particularly valuable is a set of ornately carved pistons for rolling linen and clothes – the so-called gifts of love from the second half of the 18th until the first half of the 20th century. Included are also the items representing craft manufacturing - pottery, coopery, blacksmithing, footwear and the like.

The collection of folk textiles contains about 2000 items, e.g. work and festive clothing and furnishing fabrics from Western Slovakia. Decorativeness is characterized mainly for female festive clothes, especially scarves, bonnets and sleeves embroidered with gold thread through the cardboard, white, perforated embroidery and embroidery on the tulle.

Folk art is represented by wooden plastic art and reliefs of the first half of the 19th century until the second half of the 20th century (about 280 items). A special group consists of folk paintings on glass (about 150 items). A unique collection is particularly the collection of well-known Western Slovakian artists: Ferdinand Salzmann (1830 - 1913) and his son Alexander Salzmann (1870 - 1959) from Pata. The later production is richly represented by the work of Ľudovít Kameník (1903 - 1984) from Trnava. The ethnographic collection also includes painted and carved folk furniture from the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, especially oversized chests, shelves, benches, tables and chairs.

Historical collections of the Western Slovakian Museum in Trnava consists of several rich collections of objects (about 12 100 units). The collection of clocks contains about 250 objects. Included are sun, tabernaculum or table column clocks, figural and wall clocks, the so-called pendulum clocks from the early 20th century. A part of clocks comes from workshops of the Trnava clock masters.

Extensive are judaica collections of painted plates, spice boxes, candlesticks and the Torah, a collection of monastic works and reliquaries from 18th and 19th centuries. Collection of copper, brass, tin dishes and silverware, candlesticks, pharmaceutical mortars is dated from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Guild relics, seals, historical clothing, collection pipes, sticks, but also a rich documentary fund map the history of he whole Western Slovakia.