The Collection of Objects from Everyday Life is in a sense the most specific collection in the Croatian History Museum. While most museum collections are strictly defined by their content, objects from everyday life are defined by their function. This Collection, therefore, includes a large number of groups of objects – from furniture, pots and plates, clothing, decorations and jewellery, clocks and old measures, to those everyday trifles which are hard to categorise – like tobacco-pipes, keys, locks and padlocks, wallets, writing accessories, optical accessories, musical and medical instruments, grooming accessories etc. Among all these objects especially interesting are those directly linked with prominent figures from Croatian history. This is why this Collection should be viewed both as illustrations of civil life in the 19^th and 20^th century and as a supplement to other historical evidence.

The way in which individual items came to the Museum’s possession are sometimes as interesting as the items themselves, and their history is at the same time the history of the Collection.

From the first items, carefully recorded and drawn in great detail in Mijo Sabljar’s inventory book – like signboard in the shape of a boat dating from the 18^th century donated by Mr Ivan Walter Walterstahl, retired captain, or the fan belonging to Mary Stuart, which was given to the National Museum in 1876 ‘by courtesy of’ Lavoslav Sram, a solicitor from Zagreb, or a pair of shoes as worn by Madame Pompadour, donated by the famous architect Bartol Felbinger – the Museum collected exhibits mainly through donations by many people, from the founders and the first curators or the Museum (Sabljar, Vukotinovic and Rakovac), to teachers and headmasters of secondary schools, pupils and parish priests, quack doctors and apothecaries, various craftsmen and antique dealers. Some items were, of course, purchased; Artur Nugent’s serezan cape was bought at an auction in Bosiljevo for 20 coins. Some items, like a mask of disgrace, were discovered during excavations made in Zagreb.

One of the largest and most valuable personal collections which needs to be singled out is the Jelacic Family collection which grew over time, primarily through donations by the Jelacic family. As early as in 1856 Ban Jelacic personally donated his portrait, and this was soon followed by his brother Antun Jelacic donating the Ban’s busby. In 1933 the sisters Anka and Vera Jelacic donated a large number of items belonging to Josip Jelacic to the Museum. Four years later Anka donated another large set of items to the Museum. In 1939 objects belonging to Josip Jelacic were bought from Mrs Irena Simay, and in 1992 from Mr Ivan Gerersdorfer and Mrs Jagoda Saric, who also donated some items.

Another large group of items are objects which belonged to the Mazuranic family. Many of them are linked with Ban Ivan Mazuranic, some with Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, while a smaller number originated from families who had links with the Mazuranic family, namely the families of Dimitrije Demeter, Dragojlo Kuslan, Sermage and Gagern. Almost a half of the objects in this collection came to the Museum in 1973 as a special gift from Dane and Marta Cuckovic, the Ban’s grandchildren, and the rest of the items were purchased between 1987 and 1989 from Herta Mazuranic, the wife of Vladimir Mazuranic, the Ban’s grand-grandson. Mrs Mazuranic also donated many items to our Museum.

Items from bequest by other figures are not as numerous, and the origin of some of them cannot be traced in the Museum’s inventory books. In this group we have modest collections linked with Ljudevit Gaj and Ferdinand Kulmer, Dragutin Rakovac, the first curator of the National Museum and the secretary of the Husbandry Society, Mrs Josipa Vancas, ‘The Mother of the Illyrian Movement’, who donated her decorated tunic and hat in 1895. The collection also holds items belonging to the politician Ante Starcevic, which were purchased on two occasions, to the Bishop of Dakovo Josip Juraj Strossmayer and to Isidor Krsnjavi. Among the smaller collections are bequest made by the politicians Eugen Kvaternik and Stjepan Radic, by the Seljan brothers, who were explorers, by the writer Eugen Kumicic, the actress Milka Trninan and actor Josip Freudenreich, the Czech painter Ales Mikulas, counts Erdody of Novi Marof, Bombelles from Opeka, Pejacevic from Nasice and Ban Levin Rauch.

When the former Museum of the Revolution was incorporated into the Museum in 1990 the Collection of Objects from Everyday life acquired a large and separate set of valuable testaments about World War II, the struggle of the Partisans and especially about the refugee cam in El Shatt.

The basic collection holds a total of 5.330 objects.