DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0078
from Turkey, Persia, the Netherlands and Italy, were no longer available. As long as the two Cracow
manufactories, Maslowski's and Pucilowski's, continued to function, sashes could be ordered there. When
they closed down, however, it was necessary to make do with old ones. Things were similar with bosses
and other accessories including karabelas and belts on which they used to be suspended. When old 17th
and 18th century pieces became worn out new bosses, belts and sabres were ordered locally or in
Vienna, but needless to say these new objects were of inferior quality. Many of them have been preserved
in museums and private collections. Bosses were usually made by casting techniques, with filigree or
granulation and were frequently set with turquoises, garnets, amethysts, coral and pearls, and in cheaper
items, with strass. Similar methods were used in making brooches, aigrette clasps, karabela mounts and
sword-belts. Frequently old blades were given new hilts and vice versa. Occasionally, whole new sabres
were made in poor imitation Persian, Turkish, Indian or Arab swords. Damascened blades and blades
with gold inlay were still imported from the East, whereas hilts and scabbards for them were made locally.
All such weapons were called karabelas, though in fact they had little in common with the latter. As
had been done formerly the blades of these sabres were emblazoned with the arms of Poland and Lithuania,
images of the Madonna, patriotic inscriptions and dedications in honour of Polish kings and famous
commanders. Some of these sabres were made outside Poland, for example in Vienna or Paris. During
the period of national mourning following the bloody suppression of the January Insurrection in 1864,
it became customary to wear karabelas with black hilts and scabbards adorned in various symbolical
representations. Such karabelas were made in Cracow by Ignacy Hofelmajer, who became master of
the gunsmiths' guild in 1852, and for many years had his own workshop in this city. Son of a German
imigrant, he was a devoted Polish patriot; during the January Insurrection he supplied weapons to the
rebels. Bulava and buzdygan maces as well as hunting horns were made for purely sentimental reasons,
sometimes in Vienna. They often carried likenesses of kings and victorious commanders, inscriptions
in their honour or in memory of great Polish victories, which needless to say had never embellished
genuine 16th, 17th or 1 8th century pieces. Such imitation bulavas of repousse silver and hunting horns
of ivory have been frequently taken for authentic pieces and a number of them have found way to mu-
seum collections, where they occasionally cause misunderstandings.
The tchamara, worn mainly by burghers, became a popular dress, almost national costume, in the
19th century and during the January Insurrection it served in lieu of insurgent uniform. Made of black
cloth, with bosses and braided loops and with a metal belt, sometimes in the style of Przeworsk belts
described in the previous chapter, the tchamara was similar to the kontush, its sleeves however were not
slit.
The type of kontush which was fashionable in the latter half of the 18th century became a model for
the uniform worn by Polish troops in the early 19th century. The Polish military tunic, which came into
use towards the end of the 18th century, made a world-wide career, being adopted by other armies, among
them the Russian army. The same was true of the Polish military four-cornered cap. Of Far Eastern origin,
the latter was closely linked with Polish history, and by no means military history only. It was
worn by the gentry and by peasants in the Cracow region, who adorned it with peacock feathers. It
inspired the type of hat worn by the Polish Uhlans, Lancers and Light Horse. First made by Polish hatters,
it was copied abroad, above all in France. Uniforms worn by regiments of Light Horse were in colours
favoured by the Polish gentry: dark blue, crimson and silver. Embroidered designs which formerly adorned
saddles, quivers and ammunition pouches, were transferred onto uniforms. During the Empire period,
in the Napoleonic times and much later, embroidery also used to embellish the dresscoats of high officers
and diplomats. In the latter half of the 19th century, and even earlier, men's fashions in the upper social
strata, mostly in towns, were under strong western, usually English influence. Men s clothes were made
of plain good-quality fabrics and their stylish cut was what counted much more than additional ornaments,
though such accessories as a matching ring, tie-pin, cigarette holder and cigar case were indispensable
to any gentleman. Cigar smoking, which became popular in the early 19th century in Spain, and then
in France and Germany, soon reached Poland.
A particularly cherished accessory of the man's attire was a pocket watch carried in a waistcoat
pocket on a long chain worn across the chest. Polish 19th century watchmakers were famed for their
skill. Some, like Antoni Norbert Patek, and Franciszek Czapek, gamed world renown. To this day
the name of Patek remains synonymous with what it greatest in the watchmakers' art. Both Patek and
Czapek had to leave the country after the November Insurrection and both settled in Geneva, where in
manufactories, Maslowski's and Pucilowski's, continued to function, sashes could be ordered there. When
they closed down, however, it was necessary to make do with old ones. Things were similar with bosses
and other accessories including karabelas and belts on which they used to be suspended. When old 17th
and 18th century pieces became worn out new bosses, belts and sabres were ordered locally or in
Vienna, but needless to say these new objects were of inferior quality. Many of them have been preserved
in museums and private collections. Bosses were usually made by casting techniques, with filigree or
granulation and were frequently set with turquoises, garnets, amethysts, coral and pearls, and in cheaper
items, with strass. Similar methods were used in making brooches, aigrette clasps, karabela mounts and
sword-belts. Frequently old blades were given new hilts and vice versa. Occasionally, whole new sabres
were made in poor imitation Persian, Turkish, Indian or Arab swords. Damascened blades and blades
with gold inlay were still imported from the East, whereas hilts and scabbards for them were made locally.
All such weapons were called karabelas, though in fact they had little in common with the latter. As
had been done formerly the blades of these sabres were emblazoned with the arms of Poland and Lithuania,
images of the Madonna, patriotic inscriptions and dedications in honour of Polish kings and famous
commanders. Some of these sabres were made outside Poland, for example in Vienna or Paris. During
the period of national mourning following the bloody suppression of the January Insurrection in 1864,
it became customary to wear karabelas with black hilts and scabbards adorned in various symbolical
representations. Such karabelas were made in Cracow by Ignacy Hofelmajer, who became master of
the gunsmiths' guild in 1852, and for many years had his own workshop in this city. Son of a German
imigrant, he was a devoted Polish patriot; during the January Insurrection he supplied weapons to the
rebels. Bulava and buzdygan maces as well as hunting horns were made for purely sentimental reasons,
sometimes in Vienna. They often carried likenesses of kings and victorious commanders, inscriptions
in their honour or in memory of great Polish victories, which needless to say had never embellished
genuine 16th, 17th or 1 8th century pieces. Such imitation bulavas of repousse silver and hunting horns
of ivory have been frequently taken for authentic pieces and a number of them have found way to mu-
seum collections, where they occasionally cause misunderstandings.
The tchamara, worn mainly by burghers, became a popular dress, almost national costume, in the
19th century and during the January Insurrection it served in lieu of insurgent uniform. Made of black
cloth, with bosses and braided loops and with a metal belt, sometimes in the style of Przeworsk belts
described in the previous chapter, the tchamara was similar to the kontush, its sleeves however were not
slit.
The type of kontush which was fashionable in the latter half of the 18th century became a model for
the uniform worn by Polish troops in the early 19th century. The Polish military tunic, which came into
use towards the end of the 18th century, made a world-wide career, being adopted by other armies, among
them the Russian army. The same was true of the Polish military four-cornered cap. Of Far Eastern origin,
the latter was closely linked with Polish history, and by no means military history only. It was
worn by the gentry and by peasants in the Cracow region, who adorned it with peacock feathers. It
inspired the type of hat worn by the Polish Uhlans, Lancers and Light Horse. First made by Polish hatters,
it was copied abroad, above all in France. Uniforms worn by regiments of Light Horse were in colours
favoured by the Polish gentry: dark blue, crimson and silver. Embroidered designs which formerly adorned
saddles, quivers and ammunition pouches, were transferred onto uniforms. During the Empire period,
in the Napoleonic times and much later, embroidery also used to embellish the dresscoats of high officers
and diplomats. In the latter half of the 19th century, and even earlier, men's fashions in the upper social
strata, mostly in towns, were under strong western, usually English influence. Men s clothes were made
of plain good-quality fabrics and their stylish cut was what counted much more than additional ornaments,
though such accessories as a matching ring, tie-pin, cigarette holder and cigar case were indispensable
to any gentleman. Cigar smoking, which became popular in the early 19th century in Spain, and then
in France and Germany, soon reached Poland.
A particularly cherished accessory of the man's attire was a pocket watch carried in a waistcoat
pocket on a long chain worn across the chest. Polish 19th century watchmakers were famed for their
skill. Some, like Antoni Norbert Patek, and Franciszek Czapek, gamed world renown. To this day
the name of Patek remains synonymous with what it greatest in the watchmakers' art. Both Patek and
Czapek had to leave the country after the November Insurrection and both settled in Geneva, where in