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 Carbide mining lamp Carbide lamps consisted of two metal containers, one on top of the other. Carbide was the bottom one, whereas the top one contained water. The carbide container had a pipe going out of it with a burner at the end. At the bottom of the water container there was a small hole through which water dripped slowly onto the carbide. |
 Oil mining lamp This is a miner's oil lamp with a wick. In the second half of the eighteenth century, miners began using tin oil lamps, which were mostly fuelled by oil mixed with kerosene. |
 “Rikka” — “ikebana” vase Ikebana is the art of arranging flowers which involves the creation of linear harmony and asymmetrical composition while keeping unity among the shapes, rhythms and colours of the material used. Elements used in compositions include branches, leaves, grass, and flowers, as well as vessels, and each of these elements has its own symbolic meaning. |
 Sculpture “Adam Mickiewicz's bust” by Pierre Jean David d’Angers Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), was the greatest poet of Polish Romanticism, a national poet, publicist, and political activist. David d'Angers, was a French sculptor, the author of monuments and tombstones, medallions, and portrait busts. In 1829, during his stay in Weimar — where he was working on the bust of Johann Wolfgang Goethe — he met Adam Mickiewicz, with whom he later became friends. |
 Sculpture “Mickiewicz after an Improvisation” by Wacław Szymanowski Swooning, exhausted by “the Improvisation”, the national poet is supported by two female figures. Mickiewicz's figure seems to emerge from an irregular mass, resembling a wave in the sea — a theme strongly favoured by Szymanowski. This somewhat theatrical manner of displaying the character of the poet is meant to emphasize the effort accompanying the creation of outstanding poetry. In Wacław Szymanowski’s interpretation, in tune with the romantic image of the poet, Mickiewicz has created poetry under the influence of the supernatural. |
 Commemorative plaque “Pustki Hill” This is a memorial plaque, stamped in commemoration of the battle of Gorlice, depicting the attack on Mount Pustki near Gorlice, on which fierce battles were fought on 2 May 1915, during the Gorlice operation. |
 Silver salt cellar with a figure of a boy pushing the sled This silver salt shaker, in the shape of a boy pushing a sled, is actually a miniature sculpture. It evokes admiration for the precision of the 19th century artist from Frankfurt, who, in the microscopic scale of a few centimeters, was able to develop numerous, intricate details and decorations. |
 Pharmacy mortar from 1615 The mortar is decorated with a flat relief cartouche, on which there is a house mark and the monogram JR, belonging to Jan Radziwin, a doctor of medicine and philosophy, the owner of the pharmacy on the Warsaw Old Town Square. On the cartouche frieze, there is an inscription in capital letters: ANNO DOMINI... |
 Renaissance apothecary mortar from 1562 In pharmacies, mortars were used to crush a variety of substances and to make certain forms of prescription drugs, such as: emulsions, ointments and powders. The presented mortar comes from 1562. It has a conical shape and is made of bronze. Its decoration is a plant motif – acanthus leaves – with the year 1562 placed among them. An additional ornament... |
 Hanukkah lamp Chanukija is an oil lamp designed for lighting symbolical lights to commemorate the renewal of the cult in the Temple of Jerusalem after the victorious Maccabean Revolt in 165 BC. |
 Wax seal of the imperial and royal (C.K.) District Starost (head of district) The seal consists of a wooden handle and a brass seal matrix. The handle is made of wood, painted dark. The seal presses the coat of arms of the Austria-Hungary Empire, the so-called small version of coat of arms, which was in force from 1815 until 1915. It is surrounded by an inscription: “IMPERIAL AND ROYAL (C.K.) DISTRICT STAROST K.K. BEZIRKSHAUPTMANN WADOWICE” in a sealing wax. |
 Signboard with movable types (the Foltin family) The signboard promoted services and products offered by Leon Foltin, who was a car mechanic and an enthusiast of motorisation in the pre-war period in Wadowice. He descended from the famous family of printers who, for almost 100 years, formed the publishing and bookselling market in Wadowice. Three members of the Foltin family with the Franciszek name — grandfather, father and grandson — cherished the printing and publishing tradition in the town. |
 Megillat Esther binding The Megillat Esther binding is a case for storing a parchment scroll of the Book of Esther. The Biblical Book of Esther tells the story of how Esther, the wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus, thwarted the plans of Minister Haman aiming to annihilate the Jews who inhabited the Persian Empire. To commemorate these events, on the 14th and 15th day of the month of Adar the Jews celebrate the joyful holiday of Purim. |
 Cup It is one of the most magnificent Baroque, secular works of Polish goldsmithery preserved in the collection in the world. The scenes most emphasized on the goblet are connected with weaving. This was the main source of income for the residents of Leszno in the 17th century. Two of them illustrate everyday occupations – shearing and weaving, and the third one clearly has a allegorical meaning. |
 Hanukkah synagogal candelabrum Candelabrum, synagogal, nine-branched. Supported on a flat base, tapering in a bell-like shape to the top. A multi-levelled stem, finely profiled, with four pairs of branches fixed in the sockets cut in its flat elements. The branches are slightly flattened, curved and finished with a trifoliate at the bottom. |
 Coffee set designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz Small is beautiful...
Museums are usually associated with large cool rooms with beautiful paintings hanging on the walls and accompanied by remarkable sculptures. In this totally undisturbed silence the works arouse universal respect and admiration. Are museums just about paintings and sculptures? |
 Casket in the shape of a “sąsiek” (corn chest) We buy, receive and collect... items of everyday use – the faithful companions of our reality. We try to surround ourselves with those objects that make us happy, those which make our hearts beat faster, and those to which we feel sympathy at first sight. |
 Clock shaped as a highlander’s cottage Everyday companions
We buy, receive and collect... items of so-called everyday use that are faithful companions of our reality. We try to surround ourselves with objects that bring us pleasure, that cause our hearts to beat faster and that we take a liking to at the first glance. The space that surrounds us is important. We run away from “ordinariness” and “mediocrity.” We always try to decorate it somehow. The same applies to the past. In the second half of the 19th century in England, artists who were dissatisfied with mass machine production started the Arts and Crafts Movement. They wanted to re-create what was beautiful and noble in everyday-use objects. This initiative reverberated throughout the whole of Europe, including also Poland of that time. |
 Fragments of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument demolished by the Germans Three inconspicuously-looking fragments of the bronze sculpture: the head of an old man and the fragment of a hand and an arm are the elements of one of the most important 19th century monuments in Kraków — the monument commemorating the national bard, Adam Mickiewicz. The monument, erected in 1898 by the sculptor Teodor Rygier, was demolished by the German occupant in 1940 as a symbol of Polish statehood. |
 Fragments of the Grunwald Monument demolished by the Germans The head of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas (45 x 35 cm) — the head of a middle-aged man with a short neck, slightly bent down, long hair combed backwards. Around the neck a wide strap with threaded screws. |
