DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0029
by way of Istanbul and Lvov. Silk yarn, as well as gold and silver thread needed for hemming, braiding 2 5
and embroidering, were also imported. This trade was plied by craftsmen known as passement-makers
who formed their own guilds. The Tower of Passement-makers in Cracow testifies to the guild s import-
ance and prosperity. Silk braidings, hemmings, cloth-of-gold wales and selvages, were woven on small
hand-looms, and served to decorate various items of attire, especially ladie;' coifs and men r, caps, seen
on many royal portraits dating from the 16th century. Passement-makers also produced bosses, wooden
inside, covered with gold wire or gold-leaf. Bosses of solid gold or silver, often enamelled or studded with
precious stones, the height of fashion in the 17th and 1 8th centuries, were made by goldsmiths.
In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, stove tile-making gained a significant place among crafts
practised in Poland where winters were cold and the question of heating was one of crucial importance.
During the Middle Ages the original primitive hearth and hole in the roof for letting the smoke out was
ousted by fire-places built of brick or stone with chimney-cowls and chimneys. These in turn gave way to
stoves built of stone, and finally stoves covered with tiles, made of baked clay and gla/.cd. Tilestove-
makers had to be expert in assuring the greatest radiation and guaranteeing fire security. It was soon
found that stoves could be a decorative element if made of attractive tiles with artistic designs in harmo-
nizing colours.
The earliest Polish glazed stove-tiles date from the 14th and 1 5th centuries. Such tiles were
found on Wawel Hill for example. They are composed of a decorative face and a rim. The face bears
heraldic or figural motifs impressed with ceramic or wooden forms and is glazed light or dark green.
Tile-making flourished in Poland in the early 16th century, during the reign of Sigismund the Old,
when Wawel Castle was converted to the Renaissance style. Cracow became the principal centre
of tile-making; stoves in magnate residences in many parts of Poland were covered with tiles made in
Cracow. Sometimes tiles served to decorate window-sills and entire rooms. New ornamental designs,
figural, heraldic and plant, were introduced at the time, as were new glazing techniques, for example
mezzo-majolica, or transparent lead glazing on a zinc-white base and tin glazing under Hungarian influence.
Needless to say, tiled stoves in Wawel Castle, occasionally made of gilded tiles, represented the highest
standard of technique and art. Stoves in the courtiers' quarters were more modest and some rooms had no
stoves at all, since building them was a costly project. The tiles of Wawel stoves and also stoves in many
castles in the vicinity of Cracow, were the work of an outstanding master tiler, Bartos of Kazimicrz,
known from various sources and from his signature 'Bartos did it', written in Polish, on many tiles. This
signature testifies irrefutably that the maker of those tiles, which date from between 1 524 and 1535,
was Polish; it also indicates the high standard attained by the tile-making trade in Poland, though it
cannot be denied that it drew inspiration from various centres abroad. Tiles from Bartos' workshop also
carried his signature in Latin, namely 'Barthos fecit' and 'De Kazimiria fecit'. Several hundred stove
tiles are preserved in the State Art Collections at Wawel Castle, most of them unearthed during archaeolo-
gical excavations and partly reconstructed. The majority are flat tiles from stove faces, however there are
many which must have formed part of cornices, friezes, lintels and bases. Designs on those tiles include
architectural, geometrical, plant and figural motifs. It has been established that some ol these motifs were
copied from ornamental patterns and designs in the Sigismund Chapel; this was probably due to influence
exercised by Bartholommeo Berrecci, the court artists of Sigismund the Old. A number of tiles bear the
likeness of the 'Old King' (King Casimir Jagieilon) and the 'Young King' (King John Albert). Un-
doubtedly, tile-makers patterned their designs on contemporary wood engravings. Various attempts to
reconstruct Wawel stoves in drawing or in models provide an idea of what the castle interiors looked
like. Set on stone foundations and composed of several blocks, these stoves, with their intricately
fashioned friezes and multi-coloured motifs of royal coats-of-arms and likenesses ol sovereigns in deep relief,
produced splendid decorative effects next to Arrases, oriental carpets, painted friezes, pictures and various
objects in bronze.
The development of humanism, a growing interest in literature, and familiarity with the great works of
classical and contemporary authors, both foreign and Polish, resulted in the growth of the number of
beautifully bound and illustrated books. Artistic book-binding had been known in Poland from the time
of acceptance of Christianity, when codices of the Old and New Testament and various treatises on
the Christian faith were brought to the newly converted country. As a rule, such codices had wooden
bindings covered with calf-skin stamped or incised in ornamental patterns, sometimes gilded and provided
with metal fittings studded in semi-precious stones and enamel. The corners were usually strengthened
and embroidering, were also imported. This trade was plied by craftsmen known as passement-makers
who formed their own guilds. The Tower of Passement-makers in Cracow testifies to the guild s import-
ance and prosperity. Silk braidings, hemmings, cloth-of-gold wales and selvages, were woven on small
hand-looms, and served to decorate various items of attire, especially ladie;' coifs and men r, caps, seen
on many royal portraits dating from the 16th century. Passement-makers also produced bosses, wooden
inside, covered with gold wire or gold-leaf. Bosses of solid gold or silver, often enamelled or studded with
precious stones, the height of fashion in the 17th and 1 8th centuries, were made by goldsmiths.
In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, stove tile-making gained a significant place among crafts
practised in Poland where winters were cold and the question of heating was one of crucial importance.
During the Middle Ages the original primitive hearth and hole in the roof for letting the smoke out was
ousted by fire-places built of brick or stone with chimney-cowls and chimneys. These in turn gave way to
stoves built of stone, and finally stoves covered with tiles, made of baked clay and gla/.cd. Tilestove-
makers had to be expert in assuring the greatest radiation and guaranteeing fire security. It was soon
found that stoves could be a decorative element if made of attractive tiles with artistic designs in harmo-
nizing colours.
The earliest Polish glazed stove-tiles date from the 14th and 1 5th centuries. Such tiles were
found on Wawel Hill for example. They are composed of a decorative face and a rim. The face bears
heraldic or figural motifs impressed with ceramic or wooden forms and is glazed light or dark green.
Tile-making flourished in Poland in the early 16th century, during the reign of Sigismund the Old,
when Wawel Castle was converted to the Renaissance style. Cracow became the principal centre
of tile-making; stoves in magnate residences in many parts of Poland were covered with tiles made in
Cracow. Sometimes tiles served to decorate window-sills and entire rooms. New ornamental designs,
figural, heraldic and plant, were introduced at the time, as were new glazing techniques, for example
mezzo-majolica, or transparent lead glazing on a zinc-white base and tin glazing under Hungarian influence.
Needless to say, tiled stoves in Wawel Castle, occasionally made of gilded tiles, represented the highest
standard of technique and art. Stoves in the courtiers' quarters were more modest and some rooms had no
stoves at all, since building them was a costly project. The tiles of Wawel stoves and also stoves in many
castles in the vicinity of Cracow, were the work of an outstanding master tiler, Bartos of Kazimicrz,
known from various sources and from his signature 'Bartos did it', written in Polish, on many tiles. This
signature testifies irrefutably that the maker of those tiles, which date from between 1 524 and 1535,
was Polish; it also indicates the high standard attained by the tile-making trade in Poland, though it
cannot be denied that it drew inspiration from various centres abroad. Tiles from Bartos' workshop also
carried his signature in Latin, namely 'Barthos fecit' and 'De Kazimiria fecit'. Several hundred stove
tiles are preserved in the State Art Collections at Wawel Castle, most of them unearthed during archaeolo-
gical excavations and partly reconstructed. The majority are flat tiles from stove faces, however there are
many which must have formed part of cornices, friezes, lintels and bases. Designs on those tiles include
architectural, geometrical, plant and figural motifs. It has been established that some ol these motifs were
copied from ornamental patterns and designs in the Sigismund Chapel; this was probably due to influence
exercised by Bartholommeo Berrecci, the court artists of Sigismund the Old. A number of tiles bear the
likeness of the 'Old King' (King Casimir Jagieilon) and the 'Young King' (King John Albert). Un-
doubtedly, tile-makers patterned their designs on contemporary wood engravings. Various attempts to
reconstruct Wawel stoves in drawing or in models provide an idea of what the castle interiors looked
like. Set on stone foundations and composed of several blocks, these stoves, with their intricately
fashioned friezes and multi-coloured motifs of royal coats-of-arms and likenesses ol sovereigns in deep relief,
produced splendid decorative effects next to Arrases, oriental carpets, painted friezes, pictures and various
objects in bronze.
The development of humanism, a growing interest in literature, and familiarity with the great works of
classical and contemporary authors, both foreign and Polish, resulted in the growth of the number of
beautifully bound and illustrated books. Artistic book-binding had been known in Poland from the time
of acceptance of Christianity, when codices of the Old and New Testament and various treatises on
the Christian faith were brought to the newly converted country. As a rule, such codices had wooden
bindings covered with calf-skin stamped or incised in ornamental patterns, sometimes gilded and provided
with metal fittings studded in semi-precious stones and enamel. The corners were usually strengthened