Linen Museum

Type:

Luoghi della cultura; Oggetto fisico

Category:

Architectural Heritage; Museums

Founded in the 1970s by Casimiro Becchi and a group of volunteers, the Museo del Lino of Pescarolo and Uniti in the province of Cremona was inaugurated with its present exhibition layout, designed by Fabrizio Merisi, in 2004. Classified as a demographic, ethnological and anthropological museum, it is managed by the Associazione Museo del Lino and has over 9,000 items illustrating rural life on the plain before the advent of agricultural mechanization. The ground floor presents equipment used in the linen production cycle, from the sowing of flax to weaving, and some beautifully embroidered wedding-chest items. The rooms on the upper floor house a section on the breeding of silkworms, with two of the very few throwing machines now known to exist, and sections on the preservation of food and lighting as well as working tools and objects of everyday life. The museum also has a rich collection of artefacts mostly dating from the 19th century.