DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0069
the Crimea, and Muscovy — any negotiations were customarily accompanied by exchanges of gifts,
by the magnificence of which the power and prestige of the royal donor was measured. This practice
was also followed by great magnates and dignitaries who kept their own courts and private armies, and
in many cases entertained diplomatic relations with neighbouring states. Grand hetmans maintained
such relations by right of office. Objects of the goldsmiths' and silversmiths' art of the highest quality
were ordered abroad, Augusburg workmanship being most highly praised. Objects in silver were also
commissioned in Gdansk and Wroclaw and occasionally from guild masters in major towns in Poland and
from independent masters working at the royal court and at the courts of magnates. During his long
reign, Sigismund III, an amateur goldsmith himself, was a declared patron of the goldsmiths' art. The
National Museum in Warsaw has in its collections an instrument for rolling sheet gold which is said to
have come from the king's own workshop. The king is attributed various objects, all unsigned, for example
a beaker of amber and meershaum, now in the treasury of Wawel Cathedral, and a reliquary for the head
of St. Hiacinthus Odrowaz of gilded silver, partly enamelled, with ornaments of gold and precious stones,
which is preserved in the treasury of the Dominican Church in Cracow. The magnificence of the royal
table may be judged from the few surviving objects which had formed part of silver services: a tazza,
believed to be of Cracow workmanship, bearing royal arms, the initial SR (Sigismundus Rex) and the date
1600, now in the State Art Collections of Wawel Castle; silver plates from the service of Queen Constance
of Austria, also with the royal arms, and the initial CR, in the Czartoryski Collection and the Jagiellonian
University Museum; and two prism-shaped flasks embellished with heads of winged angels, Beschlag
ornaments, bunches of fruit and cartouches with the royal arms, made in circa 1600 by the Augsburg
master Georg Lang. Subsequently those flasks were in the possession of Cardinal Michal Radziejowski,
who presented them in 1702 to the collegiate church in Lowicz, to be used lor holy oils.
Princess Anne Catherine Constance, the only daughter of Sigismund 111, married to Philip William
of Neuburg of the House of Wittelsbach, who became Elector of the Palatinate, took away as part
of her dowry many works of art, furniture, paintings, tapestries, carpets, jewelry and objects in gold and
silver. Other Polish princesses also married members of the Wittelsbach house, both oi the Bavarian
and Palatinate lines. In 1688 Louise Caroline Radziwill married Charles III Philip oi the Palatinate
line and in 1694 Princess Theresa Kunegunda, the only daughter of King John III, married Maximilian II
Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria. The few objects from their dowries preserved in the treasury of Munich's
Residenz, testify to the richness and high artistic standard of the Polish royal court. One of these
objects is a solid gold hexagonal salt-cellar, enamelled and set with diamonds and rubies, bearing the royal
arms and initials, which is believed to have been made by Sigismund 111. Another extremely valuable
object of Polish origin preserved in the Munich treasury is an enamelled gold cup with .1 short stem,
he foot studded with emeralds and rubies. Its bowl is ornamented with little whale bone plates and
cloisonne representations of the arms of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and the Vasas as well as ornamental
libbon designs in emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Inside, the bowl features a seven-leaved ivory rosette
w ith .1 large sapphire in the centre. The armorial bearings (Lubicz) in enamel and initials ol Piotr Stabrowski,
Castellan of Parnau, who offered this cup to Sigismund III about the year 1600, figure on the underside
of the cup's foot. This cup is almost certainly of Polish workmanship in the early Baroque period. Among
objects which were part of the dowry of Princess Anne Catherine Constance preserved in the Munich
treasury, there are several in amber, for example an inkwell and a cup with cover bearing the arms of
Poland and Lithuania, presumed to have been made by Sigismund 111. The Munich treasury also contains
objects of Italian, Netherlandish and Augsburg workmanship, which had been brought there from Poland.
A large jug and basin of rock crystal mounted in gold are believed to have been made by the Venetian
goldsmith named Redur, who assisted Sigismund 111 in his hobby.
Let us go back now to objects preserved in Poland. An ebony and silver plaque with scenes of the Last
Supper, the Washing of the Feet, and the Agony in the Garden, the work of the Augsburg master Mathias
Wallbaum, was bequeathed to Plock Cathedral by Queen Constance and is still there. Similar plaques
are to be seen in the high altar of the Church of the Visitation Sisters in Warsaw, and in Vilna Cathedral.
Silver altar candelabra of Augsburg workmanship, with the arms of Sigismund III and Queen Constance,
are preserved in the Old Believers' Monastery in Studzianna-Poswictnc. Similar candelabra are in the
possession of the Museum of Period Interiors in Pszczyna. Mention must also be made of another object
of exceptional magnificence and equally exceptional rarity, which at least in part is a work ol the goldsmiths
ait. This is a complete harness for an equipage of six horses which belonged to Sigismund III. Made of
by the magnificence of which the power and prestige of the royal donor was measured. This practice
was also followed by great magnates and dignitaries who kept their own courts and private armies, and
in many cases entertained diplomatic relations with neighbouring states. Grand hetmans maintained
such relations by right of office. Objects of the goldsmiths' and silversmiths' art of the highest quality
were ordered abroad, Augusburg workmanship being most highly praised. Objects in silver were also
commissioned in Gdansk and Wroclaw and occasionally from guild masters in major towns in Poland and
from independent masters working at the royal court and at the courts of magnates. During his long
reign, Sigismund III, an amateur goldsmith himself, was a declared patron of the goldsmiths' art. The
National Museum in Warsaw has in its collections an instrument for rolling sheet gold which is said to
have come from the king's own workshop. The king is attributed various objects, all unsigned, for example
a beaker of amber and meershaum, now in the treasury of Wawel Cathedral, and a reliquary for the head
of St. Hiacinthus Odrowaz of gilded silver, partly enamelled, with ornaments of gold and precious stones,
which is preserved in the treasury of the Dominican Church in Cracow. The magnificence of the royal
table may be judged from the few surviving objects which had formed part of silver services: a tazza,
believed to be of Cracow workmanship, bearing royal arms, the initial SR (Sigismundus Rex) and the date
1600, now in the State Art Collections of Wawel Castle; silver plates from the service of Queen Constance
of Austria, also with the royal arms, and the initial CR, in the Czartoryski Collection and the Jagiellonian
University Museum; and two prism-shaped flasks embellished with heads of winged angels, Beschlag
ornaments, bunches of fruit and cartouches with the royal arms, made in circa 1600 by the Augsburg
master Georg Lang. Subsequently those flasks were in the possession of Cardinal Michal Radziejowski,
who presented them in 1702 to the collegiate church in Lowicz, to be used lor holy oils.
Princess Anne Catherine Constance, the only daughter of Sigismund 111, married to Philip William
of Neuburg of the House of Wittelsbach, who became Elector of the Palatinate, took away as part
of her dowry many works of art, furniture, paintings, tapestries, carpets, jewelry and objects in gold and
silver. Other Polish princesses also married members of the Wittelsbach house, both oi the Bavarian
and Palatinate lines. In 1688 Louise Caroline Radziwill married Charles III Philip oi the Palatinate
line and in 1694 Princess Theresa Kunegunda, the only daughter of King John III, married Maximilian II
Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria. The few objects from their dowries preserved in the treasury of Munich's
Residenz, testify to the richness and high artistic standard of the Polish royal court. One of these
objects is a solid gold hexagonal salt-cellar, enamelled and set with diamonds and rubies, bearing the royal
arms and initials, which is believed to have been made by Sigismund 111. Another extremely valuable
object of Polish origin preserved in the Munich treasury is an enamelled gold cup with .1 short stem,
he foot studded with emeralds and rubies. Its bowl is ornamented with little whale bone plates and
cloisonne representations of the arms of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and the Vasas as well as ornamental
libbon designs in emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Inside, the bowl features a seven-leaved ivory rosette
w ith .1 large sapphire in the centre. The armorial bearings (Lubicz) in enamel and initials ol Piotr Stabrowski,
Castellan of Parnau, who offered this cup to Sigismund III about the year 1600, figure on the underside
of the cup's foot. This cup is almost certainly of Polish workmanship in the early Baroque period. Among
objects which were part of the dowry of Princess Anne Catherine Constance preserved in the Munich
treasury, there are several in amber, for example an inkwell and a cup with cover bearing the arms of
Poland and Lithuania, presumed to have been made by Sigismund 111. The Munich treasury also contains
objects of Italian, Netherlandish and Augsburg workmanship, which had been brought there from Poland.
A large jug and basin of rock crystal mounted in gold are believed to have been made by the Venetian
goldsmith named Redur, who assisted Sigismund 111 in his hobby.
Let us go back now to objects preserved in Poland. An ebony and silver plaque with scenes of the Last
Supper, the Washing of the Feet, and the Agony in the Garden, the work of the Augsburg master Mathias
Wallbaum, was bequeathed to Plock Cathedral by Queen Constance and is still there. Similar plaques
are to be seen in the high altar of the Church of the Visitation Sisters in Warsaw, and in Vilna Cathedral.
Silver altar candelabra of Augsburg workmanship, with the arms of Sigismund III and Queen Constance,
are preserved in the Old Believers' Monastery in Studzianna-Poswictnc. Similar candelabra are in the
possession of the Museum of Period Interiors in Pszczyna. Mention must also be made of another object
of exceptional magnificence and equally exceptional rarity, which at least in part is a work ol the goldsmiths
ait. This is a complete harness for an equipage of six horses which belonged to Sigismund III. Made of