The ‘Arms and Armour’ exhibition has been enriched by a valuable deposit from the Jagiellonian University Museum, deposited since 1946.
Founded in 1860 as the ‘Cabinet of Art and Archaeology’ of Poland’s oldest university, the museum was one of the first institutions in Kraków with a collector’s character, thanks to which it received a number of rare and interesting objects, both from archaeological excavations and from donations made by Kraków households. Most of them are uniforms and their components. The exhibition presents a selection of 12 objects from this important institution, dating from the 10th to the 19th century.
This helmet, made of gilded copper plates, was discovered in 1866 in a swamp in the village of Gorzuchowo in Greater Poland. The helmet was found alongside the remains of a chain mail, which has not survived to this day. It is one of the earliest examples of ancient protective weaponry found on Polish soil.
Two iron war maces came to the University Museum from the collection of Karol Rogawski. They are an example of a military weapon that gradually became a recognizable symbol of officer dignity in the 17th century.
The exhibition features three identical metal sheets that were originally used to decorate military pouches for storing firearm charges. One of these sheets is from the Jagiellonian University Museum collection. They were used by soldiers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This is demonstrated by the coats of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Wettin family, as well as the royal monogram ‘AR’ (‘Augustus Rex’, meaning Augustus the King), referring to either Augustus II or Augustus III.
The cartridge-pouch next to the armour is made of wood covered with leather. The lid is covered in silver sheet and features the coat of arms of the Jabłonowski family, surrounded by rich and dense armament, engraved using a special dark paste called niello. These elements were intended to emphasize the military character of the family.
The sabre, with a karabela hilt (the crossguard is missing), bears inscriptions referring to Hetman Stanisław Chomentowski’s mission to Turkey. The blade was made in Persia (today’s Iran) in the city of Isfahan by a craftsman named Muhibbi Ali, as evidenced by cartouches with his name in Arabic script. Later, in Turkey or even in Poland, inscriptions were added which mention the mission in 1712.
One of the most valuable items in the collection of the Museum of the Jagiellonian University is the uniform jacket of Romuald Lisicki. It is believed that he wore it during the time of the Confederacy of Bar (1768-1772). It is accompanied by a cartridge-pouch with the motif of a cavalier’s cross.
This jacket is the oldest preserved Polish uniform. Made of leather, it has a shape characteristic of the military clothing of foreign contingent e.g. dragoons. However, we can already see some elements that will become characteristic features of the Polish uniform.
We usually associate hussar sabers with the heyday of this cavalry, the 17th century. This name stuck to the type of sabers that had a knucklebow in the handle that was not connected to the pommel at the top. They were not only used by hussars and their popularity dates back to the end of the 18th century. An example of a later ‘hussar’ saber is this one, hypothetically associated with the Mokotów workshops near Warsaw.
It belongs to a group of almost identical sabers present in Polish collections. Some of them have an antique meander motif. This decoration, like the decorations on the saber from the Jagiellonian University Museum, indicate that they were created in the 1790s, at the end of the reign of King Stanisław August.
The green uniform, with characteristic loops on the chest and a woolen fur-lined mentick worn over the shoulder, belonged to Józef Horoch (1770-1845), Tadeusz Kościuszko’s adjutant.
The uniform is typical of hussars, dressed in the Hungarian style. The typical Hungarian military jacket is called a dołman.
This uniform, dating from 1825-1831, belonged to the general of the Kingdom of Poland, Jan Weyssenhoff (1774 – 1848).
For one month in 1831, this veteran of the Napoleonic Wars undertook the difficult task of commanding Polish troops during the November Uprising, which resulted in a two-year exile to Russian lands.
In the drawer presenting various types of epaulettes, under number 1, you can see the last souvenir on display, from the collection of the Jagiellonian University Museum. These are epaulettes made of golden thread, finished with a broth with fringes – a characteristic weave of threads and thread-thin wires, creating decoratively falling fringes.