Whetstone Holder

A whetstone holder is a grooved piece of wood which mowers filled with water and carried on their waist-belts. It was made of walnut with the use of different carving techniques: cutting, grooving, incrusting and pricking. One would submerge a little stick which had a rag on the top into a holder. Before sharpening it, a mower would pass a wet rag along the blade of the scythe in order to wet and clean it. The mowers would decorate their whetstone holders as special attention was bestowed on the act of mowing and the equipment. Most of whetstone holders from Ethnology Department collection of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina are richly decorated.  Folk beliefs are linked with this object, considering water held in it healthy. Whetstone holder belongs to the collection of folk agriculture implements and traditional means of transport, which consists of 114 objects of similar use.