Ferdynand Hompesch can sleep easy - wicker bags are back and heading out into the world again!
There are moments when you find yourself wondering what Ferdynand Hompesch would say if he could visit the Jan Puk Lasowiak Heritage Room in Stalowa Wola today.
We suspect he would first adjust his hat with a smile, then look at the dozens of hands weaving willow and say:
“Well, well... almost two centuries have passed, and they still can’t stop weaving!”
And he would be right.
On 12 July, we had the great pleasure of leading a workshop on weaving willow handbags for participants attending an event organised by the Municipal Cultural Centre in Stalowa Wola at the Jan Puk Lasowiak Heritage Room. Over the course of several hours, natural willow was transformed into unique, handmade bags, each one telling the story of the woman who created it.
No two designs were the same. What we did have, however, were plenty of smiles, a little creative chaos, lots of questions and an even greater sense of satisfaction from making something by hand.
From a Count’s Initiative to Modern-Day Workshops
Few people know that the history of willow handbags in our region has a particularly fascinating beginning. It was Ferdynand Hompesch, owner of the Rudnik estate at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, who recognised the enormous potential of willow and initiated the development of basket weaving in the area. Thanks to his efforts, the craft began to grow on such a scale that Rudnik nad Sanem eventually became known as the Polish capital of willow weaving, while the skills involved spread ever more widely throughout the region.
Count Hompesch would probably nod with satisfaction, because the school he founded in 1878 stopped being merely a building a long time ago. Today, its spirit travels with us to workshops, where new generations discover the joy of weaving. And the willow handbags? Well... they are still making their way out into the world, just as he would probably have wished.
Handbags Destined to Travel Far
The most wonderful thing about workshops like these is that every finished handbag returns home with its owner. One will accompany her on summer walks, another will travel to the seaside, while another may become a favourite accessory for warm-weather outfits.
In this way, willow from Łętownia reaches new places across Poland and sometimes even further afield.
So it is fair to say that Ferdynand Hompesch continues to travel with every woven handbag - although these days he does so in a far more stylish form.
Thank You!
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Municipal Cultural Centre in Stalowa Wola for the invitation, and to all the participants for the fantastic atmosphere, patience and remarkable commitment.
It is thanks to gatherings like these that tradition does not end up behind glass in a museum display case. It remains alive. It is touched, woven, carried over the shoulder and taken into everyday life.
And us? We are already looking forward to the next workshops. Because if history has taught us anything, it is that good willow weaving - much like a strong tradition - thrives best when it is passed from hand to hand.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GHkjJpmZQ/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/194EmiGGcA/
Fig. I. The Count with a willow handbag - a contemporary artistic reconstruction based on a historical source illustration. Created by The Wicker Stories / Wicker Academy (2026)
