Zbiory „archeologiczne” Konstantego Świdzińskiego

Abstract

These paper concerns the archaeological part of  Konstanty Świdziński’s collection, which in mid-19^th century constituted one of the richest private collections in Poland.   Konstanty Świdziński (1793-1855), son of a Radom castellan Kajetan, took over the family estate after his father’s death in 1814. The profits from the estate, the Sulgostów demesne, was devoted chiefly to the purchase of exhibits for the collection: above all manuscripts and prints, then pictures and  drawings, items of functional art, numismatic specimens and archaeological artefacts. In 1831-1832 Świdziński stayed in Cracow, and then in 1833-1855 in Ukraine, where he also devoted himself to the collecting passion, constantly increasing the collection, archaeological segment included. Świdziński’s collection, assembled by him in different stages of life were heavily dispersed and stored in various localities in all partitions, including  Sulgostów, Cracow, Rogalin and in Paszkówka, Kyiv and Brusilov. Shortly before his death in 1855 he bequeathed his collection and the estate in the Kingdom of Poland to margrave Aleksander Wielopolski. The collection which was then brought to Sulgostów was catalogued in 1856. The “Inventory of the remainders after Konstanty Świdziński” entailed, among other things, the “Archaeological Collection” which comprised 248 items. These were mainly the products of handicraft, including candleholders, rosaries, medallion, lockets, cutlery, trays, snuffboxes, pipes, a clock, bell, mortar, cane, jewel cases, written material, seals, musical instruments, crockery, ornaments, elements of attire and horse-riding gear, militaria (including weapons and armour), crosses and Little Russian medallions, as well as sculptures. This was in line with the 19^th-century notion of archaeology and archaeological artefacts, among which one would counted any memorabilia of the past, not necessarily a remote one at that, including flint and stone wares, urns, objects associated with religious rituals, weapons and armour, ornaments and valuables, coins, household items,  paintings, sculptures. The collection’s purely archaeological artefacts, originating from prehistoric and historical times include stone and flint tools (arrowheads and spearheads, axes and hatchets), earthenware (urns), silver ornaments (e.g. earrings). Already after Świdziński’s death, twenty two exhibits from his collection found their way to the Exhibition of Antiquities and Monuments of  Art organised in1858 inCracow. Following Wielopolski’s renouncement of the legacy, Konstanty Świdziński’s collection was incorporated into Krasiński family entail and, along with the remaining contents of the Krasiński Library, were in greater part destroyed by the Nazi invaders as part of the repressions after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.