002.288.Idrija

Idrija Municipal Museum, Prelovčeva 9, SI-5280 Idrija.

Public

Municipality of Idrija, Mestni trg 1, SI-5280 Idrija

510:IDR;RZ-378

Mine, Transport - other transport, Smelting

The steel flask is made of welded steel. It has the shape of a bottle, where the upper part is formed in a bottle neck. The upper part has a plug, which has a pointed inch thread. It is screwed into a welded pipe with internal screw thread. The plug has two bores. The bigger one has a specially designed hook or a handle. The smaller one served for the insertion of a seal with the mining symbol. The steel flask volume is 2.7 litres. It can store 34.48 kg of mercury. The top side has an inscription of the manufacturer and a serial number: Almaden Espana 13893.

Length 13 cm, width 13 cm, height 30 cm.

Steel.

Before the First World War.

Almadén, Spain.

The finished process of ore smelting was followed by the process of condensation. Its final product was mercury, which was rarely clean and smooth. Therefore, it needed to be cleaned. After that, it was poured into steel flasks with the purpose of storing and transporting. The latter also presented a unit for trading mercury. Before its trading, due to its large mass, it needed to be secured in the vice, properly sealed, closed with a screw plug and marked with a seal. Then it was turned upside down to check the sealing. The described steel flask is indirect proof of the established trading routes for trading mercury in Spain. Before it was handed over to the Idrija Municipal Museum, it was stored by the Idrija Mercury Mine. The described steel flask has a specially designed handle, which served for easier transport of the flask.

The steel flask for mercury is being preserved, secured and presented as important monument of Idrija mining heritage with exceptional universal values. The described steel flask is a part of a mining collection. It is currently located in the depot and can be used for temporal museum exhibitions. It can also be used for different types of mercury heritage promotions. The described steel flask is especially highly valued, because it was made in Almadén.

The Smelting Plant of the Idrija Mercury Mine.

Idrija Municipal Museum, Prelovčeva 2 depot.

The described object is fully preserved with all original parts. It was conserved before 1995, during the time of preparations for the opening of the permanent museum exhibition. Security of the premises is taken care of.

good

Regular seasonal maintenance.

- Inventory Book of the Idrija Municipal Museum.

Mestni muzej Idrija

Miha Kosmač

12. 3. 2018

Never