Медникарството в Карлово, Калофер и Казанлък
Wrought Copper in Karlovo, Kalofer and Kazanluk

Summary/Abstract: Wrought copper work, also called kazandjiijstvo (boiler-making), which linked it with the distillation of attar of rose, was one of the numerous old and vital crafts in Karlovo, Kalofer and Kazanluk. It was the coppersmiths who, along with vessels for domestic and other needs, made stills for (he distillation of attar of rose. However, the largest numbers of such stills were made from l820 to the beginning of the 20th century, when copper boilers were introduced for the distillation of attar of rose. Along with the eastern ornamentation which imposed itself on the vessels, the coppersmiths of this region, and particularly those of Karlovo, preserved their own tradition of natural simplicity; this is best apparent in the household vessels which were far from the form and ornamentation of their eastern counterparts, such as ewers, jugs, and certain coppers, and particularly in the church vessels, small watervessels, baptismal fonts, censers, etc. In all three towns the coppersmiths' craft appeared almost simultaneously and developed owing to the growing economic and cultural needs of the population, replacing the earthenware pots with copper ones, and in close connection with a number of other crafts and occupations, such as sheepbreeding, braid-making, dyeing, tailoring, and chiefly, early in the 19th century, when the cultivation of roses became an important means of livelihood in this region, with the production of attar of rose. The development of rose growing influenced not only the livelihood and way of life of the population, but also the form of certain basic vessels which were made and are still made today by coppersmiths. The form of the coppers and saucepans used by travelling craftsmen in Kazanluk was influenced by the rose stills. The craft of the coppersmiths in this region is of interest not only because of its historical and economic past, but also because in form and ornamentation these vessels appear, to a great extent, as a transition, between those in Southern and Northern Bulgaria. This is due not onlу to the geographic position of these towns, but also to the fact that many of the coppersmiths of this region, and particularly those of Karlovo, had worked in the coppersmiths' centres of Northern Bulgaria.

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