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of the brick, architect G. Jansons, makes out the clothing of a Gothic period male and hypothetically
refers this product to the 13th century (Jansons 1999, 149). Unfortunately, no traces of any art of styles
are discernible in the drawing – it was not created by a learned artist. This is a skilful sketch made by a
common craftsman which could possibly happen a century later. This unique brick also lacks dating of
the archaeological layers. It can only be noted that bricks of similar sizes were used in Turaida in buildings
constructed in the 13th–14th centuries (Jansons 2007, 134).
Apart from this interesting drawing also simpler graffiti drawings can be seen on some Turaida
finds. On a brick’s fragment there is a chequering having been drawn using a sharp stylus that resembles
window with rhombic panes encountered in the Late Gothic. The small sizes of some other fragmented
bricks do not allow perceiving the initial meaning of marks.
Simple graffiti made in wet clay, including on bricks, are very rarely encountered elsewhere. In Latvia
already for several decades an image of a piper is known which is scratched on the clay plastering of
the 13th century bronze caster’s stove in Tērvete/Terweten Castle (Brīvkalne 1964, 102). A fragmentary
medieval brick with graffiti was found in 2012 in Gulbene/Schwanenburg Castle site during archaeological
rescue works where the 16th century cultural layer was uncovered. On this brick an animal with pointed
ears is depicted with plain lines, possibly a cat (Ušpelis 2014, 212).
Also in other European countries medieval bricks with graffiti made in wet clay are rarely found and
publications about the finds are scarce. Thus, in Brandenburg, in the wall of the cloister of a Cistercian
monastery built in Chorin, in the second half of the 13th century, two bricks have been laid in, on the
surface of which Mill game board has been drawn with clear lines (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:2009-08-27-chorin-16.jpg). In Germany and Denmark some 15th century bricks with images of ships
were found (www.ewetel.net/~norbert.fiks/ostfriesland/seiten/pr_stein.html).
Similar graffiti drawings, decorations and inscriptions were sometimes applied in German countries
where from the beginning of mid-15th century these were found in increasing numbers on flat roof tiles.
In German literature these are designated as Feierabendziegel – „the last tile of the day” (Bender 1995,
80–81). This designation has originated in line with the opinion that a craftsman had to work hard all
day to make the planned amount of bricks or roof tiles. But in Saturday evening, when completing the
monotonous work of the week, the master drew separate symbolic marks in the wet clay of his last product,
or outlined a figure of an animal or a human. Roof tiles with graffiti are considered to be articles of folk
art – craftsman’s creative manifestation to mark the completion of a week’s, month’s or season’s work.
However, as can be judged by year numbers and the content of inscriptions that can sometimes be read
on roof tiles, in the 17th–19 th centuries part of them were made following a special order to bring blessing
to the building under construction and its dwellers (Bender 1995, 80). A curved S-type (“Dutch”) roof
tile with an inscribed year number 1837 can be seen also in Riga, in the exposition of the Mentzendorff ’s
House Museum.
Unfortunately, the small number of finds in Latvia and their findspot in the debris do not provide
any basis for explanation of the origin of human and animal images on medieval bricks of Turaida and
Gulbene castles. Only a supposition can be offered that these were creative manifestations of brick-kiln’s
craftsmen at the end of a working week or a season – a “leisure time brick”.
Ieva Ose. Building ceramics of Turaida Castle in the 13th–17th centuries