TOUR OF THE MUSEUM

Starting with the ‘suspended corkscrews’ and some nomenclature, visitors can admire simple ‘T-shaped’ tools made of wood, iron, aluminium, brass, bone, horn, ebony, mother-of-pearl, bronze, ivory, silver, tortoiseshell… Then they will discover the era of levers, screws and complexmechanisms, like the one based on a double screw, one clockwise and the other anticlockwise, mounted on the axis of the corkscrew body.

In the 19 sections of the museum the visitors have the chance to see decorative and figurative corkscrews, alongside of pocket instruments, advertising corkscrews, multi-purpose tools, with animal themes and erotic subjects. A section of the museum is devoted to precious miniature corkscrews for opening phials of perfume or medicaments: they were commissioned to the best artisans and goldsmiths by noble people and clergymen, who often also wanted their coat of arms or the initials of their name carved on them.

The didactic approach of the exhibit (all the panels are in Italian, English and German) is combined with a spectacular setting that brings out the beauty of the old corkscrews through careful lighting, old pictures and curiosities. A special section is dedicated to antique postcards with the corkscrew as their main subject.