DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0088
on a plinth of dark wood with ornamental rosettes and is surmounted with a bust of a Roman emperor
of gilt bronze. The mechanism is fitted in a drum, and has a white enamelled (ace. The most arresting
features of the clock, now unfortunately missing, were two pendulums, bearing figures of respectively
a Polish uhlan with drawn sword and a Cossack wielding a pike; the pendulums swinging concentrically
produced the effect of the two figures fighting. Zebraskfs clock preserved in the Poznan Museum has the
form of a portico made of veneered wood, with alabaster columns, mirrors and brass ornaments. The
white enamelled face has three hands, the hour hand, the minute hand, and the time strike alarm hand.
The pendulum bears a figure of an angel with a garland, the movement of the pendulum giving it
the impression of flight. Another Cracow clock, also in the Czartoryski Collection, is a travelling clock
made at the beginning of the 19th century by Jean Berdan, a clockmaker of French origin. Mention must
also be made of Karol Groppler, who came from Gdansk and settled in Cracow, where he obtained the
master's patent in 181 1, and above all of Tomasz Taborski, who specialized in clocks in architectural
Neo-Classical cases with little columns, mirrors and figures of Antique heroes, for example Hercules
supporting the terrestrial globe. Jacenty Taborski, probably son of Tomasz, was another master clockmaker
who worked in Cracow after 181 3. This review of great achievement in Cracow clockmaking closes
with August Friedlein, active between 1830 and 1840, who made clocks in the current Second Rococo
style. Clock- and watchmakers in such provincial towns as Tarnow, Rzeszow, Jaroslaw, Przemysl and
Lezajsk remained under the influence of Cracow. Lvov, on the other hand, followed its own tradition in
this field. Its most famous 19th century watchmakers were the Grabihski family. In Poznan the leading
watchmaking families at the beginning of the century were the Hillebrandts, Dittmars and Maslowskis
and in Wroclaw, the Radzihskis. In the mid-19th century, Polish watch- and clockmakers switched
almost exclusively to selling and repairing clocks and watches.
Alongside gold- and silversmithing, 19th century Warsaw was a centre ol artistic metal work, both
cast and hand wrought. In the early 19th century, Jan Norblin, son of the well-known painter of French
origin Jean Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine who worked for the Czartoryskis, opened a bronze works
in Warsaw. He made, for example, the imposing shields in honour of famous Polish military commanders
for the Temple of Sibyl in Pulawy. The bronze works established in 1828 by Karol Fryderyk Mintcr
was taken over by his son Karol. It produced bronze statues, church candelabra and candlesticks and
miniature reproductions of royal sarcophagi and the Sigismund Column. Some of these works which were
of a high artistic standard were designed by such outstanding artists as Jakub Tatarkiewicz and Wojciech
Swiecki. Various metal objects of daily utility, sometimes silver-plated or gilt, were piodnced in various
Polish foundries, for example in Bialogon near Kielce.
Industrialization and various technical inventions reflected negatively on the artistic standard of textiles.
The first power loom was invented in England by Edmund Cartwright in 1 784 and improved by Joseph
Marie Jacquard in 1800. In Poland, the first weaving mills and textile factories were opened in the first
half of the 19th century: by Benjamin Krusche in Pabianice in 1829, by the Ostrowski family in Tomaszow,
where cloth of gold was manufactured between 181 5 and 1830, and by Jan Blumel in Warsaw. A large
spinning mill was established in Zyrardow in 1831. In the latter half of the 19th century, Lodz became
the capital of the Polish textile industry, its major spinning and weaving mills being in the hands of
German and Jewish businessmen, for example the Scheiblers and the Poznahskis. On government initiative,
a carpet manufactory was opened in Warsaw in 18 17 which was purchased ten years later by Jan Gejsmer.
Carpets made there imitated German and English styles and were in great demand in Russia, but in 1 840
mechanical methods of production were introduced. Handmade carpets were produced in Sluck, at Jan
Borsuk's manufactory, up to 1844 and by the Abramowicz workshop in Jampol district. Kilims were
produced almost exclusively in Galicia, for example in the workshop of Wladyslaw Federowicz in Okna
near Grzymalow, established in 1886. Oskar Potocki opened a factory of kilims and silk wall hangings,
interwoven with gold and silver thread, in Buczacz. Buczacz hangings were in great demand, perhaps
because they clearly echoed former Sarmatian tradition, above all the Sluck kontush sashes.
Generally speaking Polish crafts experienced a period of crisis in the latter part of the 19th
century, just as they did in other European countries. This was due primarily to technological progress,
to the introduction of mechanical methods in every sphere of production as well as to general deterioration
of the artistic tastes of society now dominated by a nouveau-riche bourgeoisie. On the other hand, the
patriotic accents in ornamentation, in the shape and form of artistic objects, helped keep up the national
spirit in the struggle for the restoration of the country's independence.
of gilt bronze. The mechanism is fitted in a drum, and has a white enamelled (ace. The most arresting
features of the clock, now unfortunately missing, were two pendulums, bearing figures of respectively
a Polish uhlan with drawn sword and a Cossack wielding a pike; the pendulums swinging concentrically
produced the effect of the two figures fighting. Zebraskfs clock preserved in the Poznan Museum has the
form of a portico made of veneered wood, with alabaster columns, mirrors and brass ornaments. The
white enamelled face has three hands, the hour hand, the minute hand, and the time strike alarm hand.
The pendulum bears a figure of an angel with a garland, the movement of the pendulum giving it
the impression of flight. Another Cracow clock, also in the Czartoryski Collection, is a travelling clock
made at the beginning of the 19th century by Jean Berdan, a clockmaker of French origin. Mention must
also be made of Karol Groppler, who came from Gdansk and settled in Cracow, where he obtained the
master's patent in 181 1, and above all of Tomasz Taborski, who specialized in clocks in architectural
Neo-Classical cases with little columns, mirrors and figures of Antique heroes, for example Hercules
supporting the terrestrial globe. Jacenty Taborski, probably son of Tomasz, was another master clockmaker
who worked in Cracow after 181 3. This review of great achievement in Cracow clockmaking closes
with August Friedlein, active between 1830 and 1840, who made clocks in the current Second Rococo
style. Clock- and watchmakers in such provincial towns as Tarnow, Rzeszow, Jaroslaw, Przemysl and
Lezajsk remained under the influence of Cracow. Lvov, on the other hand, followed its own tradition in
this field. Its most famous 19th century watchmakers were the Grabihski family. In Poznan the leading
watchmaking families at the beginning of the century were the Hillebrandts, Dittmars and Maslowskis
and in Wroclaw, the Radzihskis. In the mid-19th century, Polish watch- and clockmakers switched
almost exclusively to selling and repairing clocks and watches.
Alongside gold- and silversmithing, 19th century Warsaw was a centre ol artistic metal work, both
cast and hand wrought. In the early 19th century, Jan Norblin, son of the well-known painter of French
origin Jean Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine who worked for the Czartoryskis, opened a bronze works
in Warsaw. He made, for example, the imposing shields in honour of famous Polish military commanders
for the Temple of Sibyl in Pulawy. The bronze works established in 1828 by Karol Fryderyk Mintcr
was taken over by his son Karol. It produced bronze statues, church candelabra and candlesticks and
miniature reproductions of royal sarcophagi and the Sigismund Column. Some of these works which were
of a high artistic standard were designed by such outstanding artists as Jakub Tatarkiewicz and Wojciech
Swiecki. Various metal objects of daily utility, sometimes silver-plated or gilt, were piodnced in various
Polish foundries, for example in Bialogon near Kielce.
Industrialization and various technical inventions reflected negatively on the artistic standard of textiles.
The first power loom was invented in England by Edmund Cartwright in 1 784 and improved by Joseph
Marie Jacquard in 1800. In Poland, the first weaving mills and textile factories were opened in the first
half of the 19th century: by Benjamin Krusche in Pabianice in 1829, by the Ostrowski family in Tomaszow,
where cloth of gold was manufactured between 181 5 and 1830, and by Jan Blumel in Warsaw. A large
spinning mill was established in Zyrardow in 1831. In the latter half of the 19th century, Lodz became
the capital of the Polish textile industry, its major spinning and weaving mills being in the hands of
German and Jewish businessmen, for example the Scheiblers and the Poznahskis. On government initiative,
a carpet manufactory was opened in Warsaw in 18 17 which was purchased ten years later by Jan Gejsmer.
Carpets made there imitated German and English styles and were in great demand in Russia, but in 1 840
mechanical methods of production were introduced. Handmade carpets were produced in Sluck, at Jan
Borsuk's manufactory, up to 1844 and by the Abramowicz workshop in Jampol district. Kilims were
produced almost exclusively in Galicia, for example in the workshop of Wladyslaw Federowicz in Okna
near Grzymalow, established in 1886. Oskar Potocki opened a factory of kilims and silk wall hangings,
interwoven with gold and silver thread, in Buczacz. Buczacz hangings were in great demand, perhaps
because they clearly echoed former Sarmatian tradition, above all the Sluck kontush sashes.
Generally speaking Polish crafts experienced a period of crisis in the latter part of the 19th
century, just as they did in other European countries. This was due primarily to technological progress,
to the introduction of mechanical methods in every sphere of production as well as to general deterioration
of the artistic tastes of society now dominated by a nouveau-riche bourgeoisie. On the other hand, the
patriotic accents in ornamentation, in the shape and form of artistic objects, helped keep up the national
spirit in the struggle for the restoration of the country's independence.