This is the story of a table that is half a century old and has served different people over that time. It was made in the Biedermeier period. Its first owner was Matej Ježek (1881-1938). After his death, his sister Jera transferred their property to their native place and settled on the Šeska homestead. This small table was found in her chamber, along with other furniture.
Martin's father Slavko had already restored some of the furniture, but Martin was impressed by the coffee table. It was in a bad state of repair; its legs were crooked and flimsy, it was already worm infested in some places, and its drawer was missing. This did not give Martin peace of mind, so he thought about how he could bring it back to life. His sister Neža is a pianist. Martin wanted to surprise her and give her something for her birthday that came from their roots and was both unique and useful.
He started to work on the table, and it took on a new look. As he sanded and varnished, the history of the table spun before him, the table spoke. So, while renovating the wooden table, he began to dig further into his roots, gathering a lot of information about his ancestors. This prompted him to write everything down. He asked his wife Sara to create a booklet that would contain all the information about where and from whom the coffee table had come and ended up in their storeroom.
The table was transforming. Because its legs were damaged, only one of them remained wooden. - this one represents originality, while the other three were made of metal and symbolise the piano legs. They were dedicated to Neza because the piano is her life companion. Martin approached the drawer by stamping on it part of the sheet music of Neza's favourite piece. In this way, the table shone in a new form according to Neza's wishes and will be preserved for her descendants.
The story of the little table fascinated me because it is very precious to me to see when people recognise the value of heritage and belonging and have the courage to add something of their own, personal and unique to the tradition. How much richer our environment could be if people were not so hungry for ever new, often empty shapes, but to be able to recognise the beauty of natural materials that can be restored, refreshed or transformed in beautiful ways, and used to create a warm home that also connects us to the deeply stored information of the Earth that is our common home. Such pieces of furniture carry eternity.
Barbara Novak, 15. 3. 2025
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