DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0070
black leather and gilded bronze fittings it features magnificent cartouches — surmounted with a crown
and surrounded with the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece — which bear the arms ol Poland,
Lithuania, Gotland and the Vasas. This harness, part of the booty captured by ihe Swedes in Warsaw in-
1655, at present in the Stockholm Livrustkammaren, is associated with the entry ol" Sigismund 111 in-
to Cracow in 1605, described earlier in this work.
References to Polish history and Polish kings as well as Polish heraldic devices are particularly frequent
on silver dating from the reign of John Casimir. Probably on the occasion ol John Casimir's coronation
in 1648, the Gdansk goldsmith Andreas Mackensen was commissioned to make twelve ta/xas bearing the
likenesses of Polish kings, from Ladislaus Jagiello down to the Elect. Each ta/xa had its loot fashioned
in the shape of the Polish Eagle with the Vasa arms .of a Cornsheal on its chest. Eventually the king
gave this set his namesake Jan Kaximierx Krasinski, Lord High Treasurer. Preserved in the Krasinski
Collection in Warsaw, it was badly damaged during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and today only five
tazxas of the set remain. A similar set was ordered by John Casimir in circa 1006 from the renowned
Augsburg master, Heinrich Mannlich. The only item of this set which has survived, ai present in the State
Art Collections of Wawel Castle, is a wine container in the shape ol the Polish eagle, its wings raised
as if about to soar into the sky, holding in its claws the sceptre, orb and sword. The tall oval base ol this
vessel has ornamental bunches of fruit and two medallions with figural scenes, probably relating to the
legend of the Roman origin of the Polish Eagle. The wine was poured out through the eagle's beak
and the crown served as a stopper. A similar Polish eagle of large dimensions, with a circular rim round
the top of its head (probably intended to carry a real crown), signed by the Augsburg masters Drentwett
and Mannlich, is now preserved in Moscow's Oruxheynaya Palata. Though the objects described above
were not the work of Polish masters, there is good reason to mention them here. As was the case with the
famous Wawel tapestries embellished with the arms of Poland, Lithuania, and the king s cipher, these
objects, too, feature elements referring to Polish tradition and many of them must have been made according
to Polish designs. Another example of royal silver, this time in the Wilanow Colled ion, is a ta/xa made
by Johann Gottfried Holl of Gdansk in 1683. This is a partly gilded, chased repousse work with
a representation of the triumph of King John 111 after his victory at Vienna. Gilts carried by envoys of
John 111 to Istanbul are described in detail in the diary of Jan Trach Gniriski, Voivode ol Pomerania,
who in 1677 headed the Polish delegation sent to Turkey for talks on settling political and Irontier disputes
between Poland and Turkey. The Grand Vixier Kara Mustafa, a real 'hawk' ol contemporary Ottoman
policy, received 'a silver bathtub of great weight, worth over a hundred gnjwna [old monetary unit],
silver candle brackets worth several score grzywna each, large silver Augsburg case with a complete set
of silver objects for room and table and a pair of large golden jugs'. In addition there were .111 inkstand,
pieces of amber, a large casket with glass screws, and French cloth in twelve colours. On 1 3 September
1677 during a general audience the Padishah was given 'a silver casket adorned with pieces ol gold set
beautifully with various precious stones, two amber caskets, a great amber mirror, .1 silver fountain needing
four men to lift, which sprouted six jests of perfumed water seven ells up into the air (or >t whole half
hour, a silver bathtub more beautiful than the one presented to the Grand Vixier, silver ewers, ,1 hundred
and twenty ells of cloth in finest colours, an excellent rifle, two mastiffs, lour dappled pointers, and two
packs of Latvian bloodhounds, all with velvet collars and lashes with silver fittings'. In the Saxon period,
such grand objects of silver went out of fashion, partly because of the general enthusiasm aroused by
porcelain. Attempts were even made to use it to produce rulers' monuments ol various dimensions. During
the reign of Stanislaus Augustus, to some extent silversmiths began to copy porcelain designs, at .my rate
as regards tableware, while the baroque style gave way to classicism.
Artistic craftsmanship had a culture forming influence, propagated aesthetic values and cultivated the
sense of beauty. The fine bookbinding traditions were continued throughout the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries.
The National Library in Warsaw, the Jagiellonian Library, the National Library in Cracow and the
Royal Library in Stockholm all contain volumes which once belonged to royal collections and have bindings
of unquestionably Polish workmanship. Among them, there is a series ol books bound in parchment,
impressed with the heraldic devices of Sigismund 111 and the arms ol Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Gotland
and the Vasas. The Stockholm library boasts a volume Fortificatio by Johann Errard, published in Frankfurt
am Main in 1604, which shortly after that date was bound, undoubtedly in Cracow, in brown calfskin
impressed with gilded armorial bearings and oriental ornaments. Books from Ladislaus IV s library
are also usually bound in parchment and have gilt coats-of-arms. A mathematical treatise by Jan Rudomin
and surrounded with the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece — which bear the arms ol Poland,
Lithuania, Gotland and the Vasas. This harness, part of the booty captured by ihe Swedes in Warsaw in-
1655, at present in the Stockholm Livrustkammaren, is associated with the entry ol" Sigismund 111 in-
to Cracow in 1605, described earlier in this work.
References to Polish history and Polish kings as well as Polish heraldic devices are particularly frequent
on silver dating from the reign of John Casimir. Probably on the occasion ol John Casimir's coronation
in 1648, the Gdansk goldsmith Andreas Mackensen was commissioned to make twelve ta/xas bearing the
likenesses of Polish kings, from Ladislaus Jagiello down to the Elect. Each ta/xa had its loot fashioned
in the shape of the Polish Eagle with the Vasa arms .of a Cornsheal on its chest. Eventually the king
gave this set his namesake Jan Kaximierx Krasinski, Lord High Treasurer. Preserved in the Krasinski
Collection in Warsaw, it was badly damaged during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and today only five
tazxas of the set remain. A similar set was ordered by John Casimir in circa 1006 from the renowned
Augsburg master, Heinrich Mannlich. The only item of this set which has survived, ai present in the State
Art Collections of Wawel Castle, is a wine container in the shape ol the Polish eagle, its wings raised
as if about to soar into the sky, holding in its claws the sceptre, orb and sword. The tall oval base ol this
vessel has ornamental bunches of fruit and two medallions with figural scenes, probably relating to the
legend of the Roman origin of the Polish Eagle. The wine was poured out through the eagle's beak
and the crown served as a stopper. A similar Polish eagle of large dimensions, with a circular rim round
the top of its head (probably intended to carry a real crown), signed by the Augsburg masters Drentwett
and Mannlich, is now preserved in Moscow's Oruxheynaya Palata. Though the objects described above
were not the work of Polish masters, there is good reason to mention them here. As was the case with the
famous Wawel tapestries embellished with the arms of Poland, Lithuania, and the king s cipher, these
objects, too, feature elements referring to Polish tradition and many of them must have been made according
to Polish designs. Another example of royal silver, this time in the Wilanow Colled ion, is a ta/xa made
by Johann Gottfried Holl of Gdansk in 1683. This is a partly gilded, chased repousse work with
a representation of the triumph of King John 111 after his victory at Vienna. Gilts carried by envoys of
John 111 to Istanbul are described in detail in the diary of Jan Trach Gniriski, Voivode ol Pomerania,
who in 1677 headed the Polish delegation sent to Turkey for talks on settling political and Irontier disputes
between Poland and Turkey. The Grand Vixier Kara Mustafa, a real 'hawk' ol contemporary Ottoman
policy, received 'a silver bathtub of great weight, worth over a hundred gnjwna [old monetary unit],
silver candle brackets worth several score grzywna each, large silver Augsburg case with a complete set
of silver objects for room and table and a pair of large golden jugs'. In addition there were .111 inkstand,
pieces of amber, a large casket with glass screws, and French cloth in twelve colours. On 1 3 September
1677 during a general audience the Padishah was given 'a silver casket adorned with pieces ol gold set
beautifully with various precious stones, two amber caskets, a great amber mirror, .1 silver fountain needing
four men to lift, which sprouted six jests of perfumed water seven ells up into the air (or >t whole half
hour, a silver bathtub more beautiful than the one presented to the Grand Vixier, silver ewers, ,1 hundred
and twenty ells of cloth in finest colours, an excellent rifle, two mastiffs, lour dappled pointers, and two
packs of Latvian bloodhounds, all with velvet collars and lashes with silver fittings'. In the Saxon period,
such grand objects of silver went out of fashion, partly because of the general enthusiasm aroused by
porcelain. Attempts were even made to use it to produce rulers' monuments ol various dimensions. During
the reign of Stanislaus Augustus, to some extent silversmiths began to copy porcelain designs, at .my rate
as regards tableware, while the baroque style gave way to classicism.
Artistic craftsmanship had a culture forming influence, propagated aesthetic values and cultivated the
sense of beauty. The fine bookbinding traditions were continued throughout the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries.
The National Library in Warsaw, the Jagiellonian Library, the National Library in Cracow and the
Royal Library in Stockholm all contain volumes which once belonged to royal collections and have bindings
of unquestionably Polish workmanship. Among them, there is a series ol books bound in parchment,
impressed with the heraldic devices of Sigismund 111 and the arms ol Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Gotland
and the Vasas. The Stockholm library boasts a volume Fortificatio by Johann Errard, published in Frankfurt
am Main in 1604, which shortly after that date was bound, undoubtedly in Cracow, in brown calfskin
impressed with gilded armorial bearings and oriental ornaments. Books from Ladislaus IV s library
are also usually bound in parchment and have gilt coats-of-arms. A mathematical treatise by Jan Rudomin