Life at the sheepfold also generated some specific objects which were used in the sheepfold by the shepherds. Not only the shepherd’s spoon, but also the polenta tray was present among the objects of use, as part of the daily inventory. It was used by shepherds when eating together polenta with cheese or green cheese.
The tray in the image is a monoxyle piece, made of a single part of hardwood, with a smaller compartment on one end, devised for cheese.
The artifact was purchased by Professor Romulus Vuia (the first Museum director), during the first research campaigns organized in the Pădureni area. It entered the patrimony of the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography in 1923 and it originates from Socet village, Cerbăl area, Hunedoara county.