Individual crafts became important in those villages where the natural conditions were right; pottery developed everywhere where loamy, sandy soil had a negative effect on the harvest. Where the rural economy was able to combine the production of raw materials with crafts (cooperage, shoemaking, the leather industry, tailoring, strap - making, milling and wheelmaking), crafts became specialised as a house tradition in certain families, with the result that the craftsmen joined together to form guilds.

The founding of guilds in Prekmurje did not revolve around town areas but to parish centres or the estates of landowners. The acquisition of guild privileges required years of collecting together resources, which eventually reached its peak in the guild charter, the most important document of central authority. The artistically - crafted safe in the exhibition is surprising because of its ornamentation and unique lock mechanism. The guild charter in the exhibition is the document by which Maria Theresa approved with her signature the association of craftsmen from the parish of Beltinci - blacksmiths, locksmiths, strap - makers, wheelwrights and millers - into a guild. A distinguishing feature of the tankard of the tailors' guild is the use of the technique of faience, which contributes, with its rich bright colours, to the Baroque splendour and recreates an era in which the guilds in Prekmurje truly flourished.

Folk pottery was susceptible to numerous influences which came to the countryside from more developed areas, sometimes after a delay of several centuries. Among those most eagerly adopted were improvements in technique which gave greater durablity and colour to the fragile pots than was possible with natural glazes. Greater impermeability and durablity were achieved using lead glazing, which began to be used in folk pottery in the 18^th century. The brightly - coloured effectiveness of simple geometric forms was achieved by adding coloured metal oxides. Changes in the domestic culture in the region as a whole, which enabled the transferring of most everyday activities to the kitchen, gave rise to a need for a more durable glazing and containers with greater plasticity. The original functional nature of dishes and pots (known as pütre) was overtaken by a decorative function. The reconstruction of a quarter of an ancient kiln illustrates a special method of reduction firing, which has only survived in Prekmurje, and an ingenious way of solving the problem of stability. The black fired pot, which was notable for its low permeability, was placed in the kiln in such a way that the heat did not destroy its stability. The oven was protected from the vagaries of the weather with a hut, or covered with straw, so that firing could also take place in winter.