DOI issue:
Nr. 4
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Kostrzyńska-Miłosz, Anna: Meble w polskich wnętrzach reprezentacyjnych lat 50. XX wieku: Urząd Rady Ministrów w Warszawie*
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0767
Meble w polskich wnętrzach reprezentacyjnych lat 50. XX wieku
753
Furniture in a Stately Interior in the 1950s. The Office
of the Council of Ministers in Warsaw
The 1950s constituted an interesting period in the
history of Polish stately interiors, since in the course
of WW II all the interiors that had performed such a
function were destroyed. Bearing in mind the new
ideology in place in Poland and designers rooted in
the pre-war period, an interesting situation developed
that favoured the change with parallel attempts to
preserve the pre-war forms.
The interiors offering an exemplary course of
such change can be found in the Chancellery of the
Prime Minister, at 1/3 Ujazdowskie Avenue,
Warsaw, and its furnishing. Raised in 1903 after the
design of Wiktor Junosz-Piotrowski, the building
was demolished as the result of September 1939
warfare and the Warsaw Uprising except for the
northern wing. In December 1946, the decision was
made to rebuild the edifice, in the course of which
all the interior divisions were thoroughly altered.
Stanisław Odyniec-Dobrowolski was the architect
responsible for the reconstruction yielding 20 stately
rooms and offices of 20 members of the Council of
Ministers, with two additional conference rooms
seating 200 and 800 respectively.
The interiors were designed by Jan Bogusławski,
so far mentioned as the only interior designer (his
was also the wood panelling, doors, and even door
handles). Moreover, in 1948-49, he designed two
sets of furniture: of light birch and less frequently
ash wood, and the other of most frequently dark
mahogany or dyed birch echoing designs from the
1930s.
The most interesting set is the interior of the
Prime Minister's office featuring classicizing form.
Its outstanding element are full-body sculptures of
animals placed at the base of each leg of the tables
and the desk, as well as the front legs of the seats.
They were sculpted by Stanisław Sikora, Bogu-
sławskie collaborator from before WW II. The desk
is adorned with eagles with outstretched wings, the
armchairs feature owls, while the small round table
is decorated with squirrels. Not so full-body flying
pigeons shown in the bas-relief seen from above and
carrying little twigs in their beaks, placed on the
truncated corners of the frame or also bas-reliefs of
pigeons touching each other with their breasts and
ornamenting the back part of the chair back-rest
moulds rank among the ornaments eagerly used in
the 1950s. With this reduced symbolism: flying
eagle, wise owl, or hard-working squirrel, completed
with the pigeon symbolizing peace, Bogusławski
must have intended to emphasize the character of
their location. Apart from the symbolic reference to
the venue function, the designs of these pieces of
furniture did not introduce any new forms in cabinet
making, prolonging those of the 1930s. Also the
second dark-mahogany type of furniture designed by
Jan Bogusławski constituted a continu-ation of the
pre-war forms referring to geometric stylization and
classicist forms.
To-date all the designs of the stately rooms at the
Chancellery have been attributed to Jan Bogu-
sławski, however in the course of my research it
resulted that a substantial part of them were authored
by Zygmunt Szatkowski, the fact being testified to
by the encountered archival records or signatures
placed on furniture pieces. According the these the
sculptor Czesław Woźniak cooperated with Szat-
kowski, while the furniture was made in the Byd-
goszcz Furniture Factory in 1955.
Zygmunt Szatkowski was familiar with Bogu-
slawski's output, which he admired, however his
pieces designed for the Chancellery merely 7 years
later than Boguslawski's furniture were of a
completely different character. Their characteristic
features were the motifs of interlacing forming
pointed-arch shapes or resembling rhombus. Among
these furniture elements which only serve a
decorative purpose, also those that have a symbolic
meaning can be pointed to. The example of this can
be seen in the desk and large tables each of which
was decorated with caryatids placed in the arch of
the legs. It may be assumed that they too only serve
as decoration, though each figure is different and is
holding different attributes. Their symbolic impact
is confirmed by Szatkowski's comment written on
one of the designs: "Warsaw Pact Caryatid design
and execution sculptor Cz. Woźniak Poznan".
Both Jan Bogusławski and Zygmunt Szatkowski
intended in their designs to point to the function of
the place their furniture was destined to serve. Each
did it in his own way: Bogusławski by slightly
modifying the pre-war designs and Szatkowski by
deriving models from Socialist Realism ideology,
surprisingly alluding to forms of sacral art. Both
designs were acceptable to the representatives ofthe
then regime.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska
753
Furniture in a Stately Interior in the 1950s. The Office
of the Council of Ministers in Warsaw
The 1950s constituted an interesting period in the
history of Polish stately interiors, since in the course
of WW II all the interiors that had performed such a
function were destroyed. Bearing in mind the new
ideology in place in Poland and designers rooted in
the pre-war period, an interesting situation developed
that favoured the change with parallel attempts to
preserve the pre-war forms.
The interiors offering an exemplary course of
such change can be found in the Chancellery of the
Prime Minister, at 1/3 Ujazdowskie Avenue,
Warsaw, and its furnishing. Raised in 1903 after the
design of Wiktor Junosz-Piotrowski, the building
was demolished as the result of September 1939
warfare and the Warsaw Uprising except for the
northern wing. In December 1946, the decision was
made to rebuild the edifice, in the course of which
all the interior divisions were thoroughly altered.
Stanisław Odyniec-Dobrowolski was the architect
responsible for the reconstruction yielding 20 stately
rooms and offices of 20 members of the Council of
Ministers, with two additional conference rooms
seating 200 and 800 respectively.
The interiors were designed by Jan Bogusławski,
so far mentioned as the only interior designer (his
was also the wood panelling, doors, and even door
handles). Moreover, in 1948-49, he designed two
sets of furniture: of light birch and less frequently
ash wood, and the other of most frequently dark
mahogany or dyed birch echoing designs from the
1930s.
The most interesting set is the interior of the
Prime Minister's office featuring classicizing form.
Its outstanding element are full-body sculptures of
animals placed at the base of each leg of the tables
and the desk, as well as the front legs of the seats.
They were sculpted by Stanisław Sikora, Bogu-
sławskie collaborator from before WW II. The desk
is adorned with eagles with outstretched wings, the
armchairs feature owls, while the small round table
is decorated with squirrels. Not so full-body flying
pigeons shown in the bas-relief seen from above and
carrying little twigs in their beaks, placed on the
truncated corners of the frame or also bas-reliefs of
pigeons touching each other with their breasts and
ornamenting the back part of the chair back-rest
moulds rank among the ornaments eagerly used in
the 1950s. With this reduced symbolism: flying
eagle, wise owl, or hard-working squirrel, completed
with the pigeon symbolizing peace, Bogusławski
must have intended to emphasize the character of
their location. Apart from the symbolic reference to
the venue function, the designs of these pieces of
furniture did not introduce any new forms in cabinet
making, prolonging those of the 1930s. Also the
second dark-mahogany type of furniture designed by
Jan Bogusławski constituted a continu-ation of the
pre-war forms referring to geometric stylization and
classicist forms.
To-date all the designs of the stately rooms at the
Chancellery have been attributed to Jan Bogu-
sławski, however in the course of my research it
resulted that a substantial part of them were authored
by Zygmunt Szatkowski, the fact being testified to
by the encountered archival records or signatures
placed on furniture pieces. According the these the
sculptor Czesław Woźniak cooperated with Szat-
kowski, while the furniture was made in the Byd-
goszcz Furniture Factory in 1955.
Zygmunt Szatkowski was familiar with Bogu-
slawski's output, which he admired, however his
pieces designed for the Chancellery merely 7 years
later than Boguslawski's furniture were of a
completely different character. Their characteristic
features were the motifs of interlacing forming
pointed-arch shapes or resembling rhombus. Among
these furniture elements which only serve a
decorative purpose, also those that have a symbolic
meaning can be pointed to. The example of this can
be seen in the desk and large tables each of which
was decorated with caryatids placed in the arch of
the legs. It may be assumed that they too only serve
as decoration, though each figure is different and is
holding different attributes. Their symbolic impact
is confirmed by Szatkowski's comment written on
one of the designs: "Warsaw Pact Caryatid design
and execution sculptor Cz. Woźniak Poznan".
Both Jan Bogusławski and Zygmunt Szatkowski
intended in their designs to point to the function of
the place their furniture was destined to serve. Each
did it in his own way: Bogusławski by slightly
modifying the pre-war designs and Szatkowski by
deriving models from Socialist Realism ideology,
surprisingly alluding to forms of sacral art. Both
designs were acceptable to the representatives ofthe
then regime.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska