#Exhibit of the Month

Manufactured in 1902 by AG vorm Siedel & Nauman in Dresden, Germany.

Dimensions: Length - 38 cm, Width - 35 cm, Height - 20 cm. Weight - 16 kg. It entered the museum collection in 1984, transferred from the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History.

The typewriter features a standard carriage mounted on ball bearings and rollers, along with a keyboard equipped with 42 keys. These contain two complete sets of Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, punctuation marks, numbers, and mathematical symbols, enabling the typing of 126 characters. Beneath the metal casing, the type bars are arranged in a fan-like pattern, holding embossed characters and ink ribbon rollers. When the keys are pressed, the type bars strike the inked ribbon, imprinting characters onto the paper tensioned in the machine's roller system.

The side panels are elegantly decorated with refined cast-iron elements in the Art Nouveau style, displaying the brand name - "Ideal." The Polyglott model, featuring a bilingual keyboard patented in the United Kingdom by Max Klaczko from Riga, Latvia, was produced between 1902 and 1913, marking the first typewriter capable of writing in two languages. The "Ideal Polyglott" typewriter was actively sold in the Russian Empire and gained significant popularity in Poland, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
The typewriter - a mechanical device used for printing text directly onto paper - ranks among the most important inventions of the modern era, as it revolutionized communication. From the late 19th century to the early 21st century, it became an indispensable tool, widely used by writers, in offices, for business correspondence, and in private homes. The peak of typewriter sales occurred in the 1950s when the average annual sales in the United States reached 12 million units. In November 2012, the British Brother factory produced what it claimed to be the last typewriter, which was donated to the Science Museum in London.
The advent of computers, word processing software, printers, and the decreasing cost of these technologies led to the typewriter's disappearance from the mainstream market, turning it into a museum exhibit.
June 23 marks Typewriter Day, commemorating the date when American journalist and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented his typewriter. This day celebrates the simple yet revolutionary device that has become history, as well as the remarkable literary achievements it has enabled since 1868.

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#Exhibit of the Month

March 2023

The anthropomorphic figurine from Cealîc

The anthropomorphic figurine belongs to the Eneolithic period - the middle of the 5th millennium BC. It was discovered in a fragmentary state, during the archaeological excavations, carried out by I. Manzura and B. Govedaritsa in 2012, in the settlement of Cealîc, Taraclia district. The fragments of the figurine were found among pieces of burnt clay paste, in the southern part of a dwelling, which most likely represented a special place for religious ceremonies. This hypothesis is also supported by the presence near the figurine of seven small cups, decorated with incised ornament, which were apparently used for ritual libations.

The figurine is made of fine clay paste, mixed with crushed ceramic, and its surface is covered with a layer of light brown engobe. It is made in a realistic manner, traditional for the Gumelnița culture, and shows a female figure in a vertical position, with folded and raised arms, in the so-called "Oranta" pose, which is widespread in the Orthodox iconographic tradition, when the image of the Mother of God is depicted. The figure's head placed on a tall cylindrical neck has a flattened shape, the nose is represented by a vertical belt, and the eyes - by two holes. The body is flattened, widening sharply at the bottom. On the surface of the body, the chest and navel are well highlighted. The buttocks and legs are well contoured and decorated in a voluminous manner. The surface of the buttocks is decorated with spiral-shaped incisions, and the thighs - with vertical and oblique incisions. A horizontal belt can be seen below the knees, which possibly represents the upper part of the footwear of the type of high boots. On the arms and in the lower part of the body there are holes, intended for hanging some accessories.

Anthropomorphic figurines belong to the category of cult objects and, according to specialists, are associated with various ritual ceremonies. In archaeological sites from the Neolithic and Eneolithic eras, they are usually found in contexts related to the mythical world of gods or otherworldly ancestors. Figurines are usually found near houses ovens or hearths, in places considered to be located on the border between worlds. In the funerary practice of those times, female figurines are usually associated with the burials of children under 10-12 years old, who, according to the visions of the ancients, still partially belong to the other world. It is believed that in the religious structures of prehistoric farmers, female anthropomorphic images were associated with the cult of fertility and rebirth. These possibly depicted the Great Mother Goddess or fertility deity. According to some researchers, anthropomorphic figurines in general could be associated with ancestor worship.

Figure dimensions: Height - 195 mm, Maximum width - 84 mm.
Cultural affiliation: Gumelnița A Culture, Bolgrad-Aldeni Variant,
Date: approx. 4600-4400 BC

#Exhibit of the Month

"Ideal" Mechanical Typewriter, Model A Polyglott

March 2023

The anthropomorphic figurine from Cealîc

#Exhibit of the Month