DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0026
in Germany which in medieval times was one of the principal centres of clockmaking. Precise timetclling
was unquestionably an urban achievement of merchants, craftsmen and clerks to whom time was always
important. Sundials, the first devices for telling time, could not be relied upon on overcast days or in the
winter season, hence sand-glasses and water-glasses were resorted to. Since circa i ooo, when the
first mechanical clock, based on a system of weights and cogwheels, was constructed in France, constant
improvements were introduced to this invention. The first clocks, mounted in towers in Italy in the early
14th century, had their dials divided into twenty-four hours. This Italian-type clock remained in use in
Poland up to the end of the 16th century, when the twelve-hour clock was first introduced. The invention
of a spring clockwork mechanism (with a system of springs, cogwheels and a foliot) in Italy in circa
1400 made possible the making of small portable clocks. The clockmaker's craft was akin to metalworking
and locksmithing, hence these branches were usually represented by one guild. The first information about
Cracow clockmakers making portable clocks dates from the latter part of the 1 5 th century. A note dated
1464 specifies that the Cracow clockmaker Leonard Wunderlich, in addition to work on the townhall
timepiece, can also make a 'horologium cum excitatorio, that is with an alarm'. Twelve years later it was
noted that the locksmith Franciszek made a clock for Jan of Glogow, professor at Cracow University.
The replacing of the foliot with a balance-wheel and a hair-spring permitted the making of smaller clocks
and the enclosing of the mechanism in cylindrical receptacles. Another improvement, the so-called
compensating barrel or fusee, was introduced by Jacob the Bohemian of Prague. The standard clock
known as the clock of Queen Bona, which he was commissioned to make by Sigismund the Old for Queen
Bona in 1525, is now in the possession of the London Society of Antiquaries. This clock (24.2 cm
in diameter and 12.5 cm in height) of gilded brass, carries the arms of Poland and Lithuania, and the armo-
rial bearings of the Sforzas. The hours on its dial are marked with twenty-four metal spherules which make
it possible to tell the time also in the dark. The works of a table box-clock made in Poznah by Echard
Stall (d. 1 584), is preserved in the National Museum in Poznari, whereas the box itself is to be seen in
the Czartoryski Collection in Cracow. Another old timepiece was made by Hans Gayslcr, who was active
in Cracow between 1567 and 1569. This clock, of which the box has only survived, presumably belonged
to King Sigismund Augustus and was kept in the so-called Royal Casket together with the most prized
objects of the Czartoryski Collection (unfortunately the contents of the casket were almost totally looted
by the Germans during the Second World War). The bronze box is engraved with the arms of Poland
and Lithuania at the sides; its lid bears the inscription 'Hans Gaysler zu Krokau — Bonum est confidere
in Domino quam confidere in homine', and the dial has the Roman numerals from I to XII and again
from I to XII and the Arabic numerals from 1 to 24. In the latter half of the 16th century, turret clocks
became the fashion. A statute of the Cracow guild of clockmakers from 1585 gives detailed regulations
regarding the appearance, mechanism and standard of quality of tun el clocks. These instructions were
repeated in charters granted by successive monarchs up to the year 167 1. A very fine turret clock dating
from the end of the 16th century is on show in the State Art Collections at Wawel Castle. This gilded
bronze, richly ornamented timepiece, bearing the Rawicz coat-of-arms, is surmounted with an openwork
drum and a bell ringing the hours.
In the second half of the 1 5th century, Gdansk became the gateway through which Polish grain was
exported and various luxury goods were brought in. As a result, the city rapidly developed economically
and became an important centre of artistic crafts, especially goldsmithing, metalworking, furniture-
making, pottery and weaving. Gdansk pewterware was in great demand in Poland. The royal pewter
coffins, among them the coffins of Sigismund Augustus and Stephen Bathory, in the vaults of Wawel
Cathedral were unquestionably the work of Gdansk masters. The former is decorated in a bas-relief
allegorical representation of the five senses, as a sign that though man's senses arc cut short with death,
his immortal soul lives on. Gdansk supplied pewter pots and jugs, serving dishes and plates, spoons and
ladles, as well as liturgical vessels. Pewter, cheaper than silver and consequently more generally accessible,
was also more easily fashioned, and just as durable and attractive. In the 16th century the tin and pewter
industry flourished in many Polish towns. The great beer jug of the Cracow bakers' guild, engraved with
the arms of Poland and the date 1586, at present in the National Museum in Cracow, is certainly of
Cracow workmanship.
As was the case in other advanced countries of Western Europe, tapestry was the most splendid
decorative element in noble residences in 16th century Poland. Arrases adorned magnificent reception
rooms of castles and palaces, townhalls and mansions of patricians, cathedrals and larger churches, rest-
was unquestionably an urban achievement of merchants, craftsmen and clerks to whom time was always
important. Sundials, the first devices for telling time, could not be relied upon on overcast days or in the
winter season, hence sand-glasses and water-glasses were resorted to. Since circa i ooo, when the
first mechanical clock, based on a system of weights and cogwheels, was constructed in France, constant
improvements were introduced to this invention. The first clocks, mounted in towers in Italy in the early
14th century, had their dials divided into twenty-four hours. This Italian-type clock remained in use in
Poland up to the end of the 16th century, when the twelve-hour clock was first introduced. The invention
of a spring clockwork mechanism (with a system of springs, cogwheels and a foliot) in Italy in circa
1400 made possible the making of small portable clocks. The clockmaker's craft was akin to metalworking
and locksmithing, hence these branches were usually represented by one guild. The first information about
Cracow clockmakers making portable clocks dates from the latter part of the 1 5 th century. A note dated
1464 specifies that the Cracow clockmaker Leonard Wunderlich, in addition to work on the townhall
timepiece, can also make a 'horologium cum excitatorio, that is with an alarm'. Twelve years later it was
noted that the locksmith Franciszek made a clock for Jan of Glogow, professor at Cracow University.
The replacing of the foliot with a balance-wheel and a hair-spring permitted the making of smaller clocks
and the enclosing of the mechanism in cylindrical receptacles. Another improvement, the so-called
compensating barrel or fusee, was introduced by Jacob the Bohemian of Prague. The standard clock
known as the clock of Queen Bona, which he was commissioned to make by Sigismund the Old for Queen
Bona in 1525, is now in the possession of the London Society of Antiquaries. This clock (24.2 cm
in diameter and 12.5 cm in height) of gilded brass, carries the arms of Poland and Lithuania, and the armo-
rial bearings of the Sforzas. The hours on its dial are marked with twenty-four metal spherules which make
it possible to tell the time also in the dark. The works of a table box-clock made in Poznah by Echard
Stall (d. 1 584), is preserved in the National Museum in Poznari, whereas the box itself is to be seen in
the Czartoryski Collection in Cracow. Another old timepiece was made by Hans Gayslcr, who was active
in Cracow between 1567 and 1569. This clock, of which the box has only survived, presumably belonged
to King Sigismund Augustus and was kept in the so-called Royal Casket together with the most prized
objects of the Czartoryski Collection (unfortunately the contents of the casket were almost totally looted
by the Germans during the Second World War). The bronze box is engraved with the arms of Poland
and Lithuania at the sides; its lid bears the inscription 'Hans Gaysler zu Krokau — Bonum est confidere
in Domino quam confidere in homine', and the dial has the Roman numerals from I to XII and again
from I to XII and the Arabic numerals from 1 to 24. In the latter half of the 16th century, turret clocks
became the fashion. A statute of the Cracow guild of clockmakers from 1585 gives detailed regulations
regarding the appearance, mechanism and standard of quality of tun el clocks. These instructions were
repeated in charters granted by successive monarchs up to the year 167 1. A very fine turret clock dating
from the end of the 16th century is on show in the State Art Collections at Wawel Castle. This gilded
bronze, richly ornamented timepiece, bearing the Rawicz coat-of-arms, is surmounted with an openwork
drum and a bell ringing the hours.
In the second half of the 1 5th century, Gdansk became the gateway through which Polish grain was
exported and various luxury goods were brought in. As a result, the city rapidly developed economically
and became an important centre of artistic crafts, especially goldsmithing, metalworking, furniture-
making, pottery and weaving. Gdansk pewterware was in great demand in Poland. The royal pewter
coffins, among them the coffins of Sigismund Augustus and Stephen Bathory, in the vaults of Wawel
Cathedral were unquestionably the work of Gdansk masters. The former is decorated in a bas-relief
allegorical representation of the five senses, as a sign that though man's senses arc cut short with death,
his immortal soul lives on. Gdansk supplied pewter pots and jugs, serving dishes and plates, spoons and
ladles, as well as liturgical vessels. Pewter, cheaper than silver and consequently more generally accessible,
was also more easily fashioned, and just as durable and attractive. In the 16th century the tin and pewter
industry flourished in many Polish towns. The great beer jug of the Cracow bakers' guild, engraved with
the arms of Poland and the date 1586, at present in the National Museum in Cracow, is certainly of
Cracow workmanship.
As was the case in other advanced countries of Western Europe, tapestry was the most splendid
decorative element in noble residences in 16th century Poland. Arrases adorned magnificent reception
rooms of castles and palaces, townhalls and mansions of patricians, cathedrals and larger churches, rest-