Kovács Zsuzsa: Göcsej Village Museum. Exhibition Guide (Zalaegerszeg, 2008)

Tile Stove The regular, bowl-shaped tiles (these are called szem = eye) are fine works of the potters; this stove here was built from these. The point of the bowl shape is to have a bigger surface area to radiate heat. This stove has a cupshaped glazed pot as its top: that is where its name comes from. In the first room the stovetop is made from decorative tiles: this is called a crown. Tile stoves are generally brown or green glazed, the tiles are all bowl-shaped except the in bottom line which are usually curved outwards. With the appearance of the tiled stoves, the rooms became heatable so the kitchen was no longer the only heated place, and from then on the family had additional comfortable living spaces. Tiled stoves were fired from the kitchen so the smoke came back there and not into the room. Thus heated rooms were clean, pleasant places where there was no grey smoke everywhere and decoration with towels, curtains and bedcovers became possible. Next to the kitchen there is a relatively small pantry but we can find another one standing separately from the house that is much bigger. (15. Pantry from Gombosszeg) A roofed shed belongs to this thatched pantry, where the painted 'szelelőrosta' (a kind of sifter) is kept safe from the weather. This was operated by hand and was used to clean the cereal seeds. Earlier this job was done by hand with a 'törekrosta' (another kind of sifter), similar to a sieve; this tool can be seen on the wall. Then they got rid of the 'törek' (seed shells and stalk pieces) by sifting the seeds out and by the so-called 'szelelés' (using a draught). People stood in the shed against the wind and started to shovel the cereal. Then the wind cleaned the seeds. This 'szelelőrosta' worked like that too: the heavier cereal seeds dropped closer and the 'törek' was blown a bit further away. Eventually, the cereal came out separately from the shells and pieces of stalk.