Ochweśnik

Abstract

Ochweśnik, also called obraźnik, did paintings, especially religious ones and then sold them going door to door. These works were generally made on paper by woodcut prints. This profession developed especially in the first half of the 19th century in Wielkopolska in Skulsk and Ślesin as well as their surroundings. The discussed traders formed a very hermetic and specific environment with their own jargon: a mixture of Polish, Czech, Russian, Yiddish and German. The itinerant trade of devotional images was conducted in all Polish lands, and it even spread beyond the borders, especially to the East. In addition to paintings, they also sold "medicine".