Circlet for the laurel tree of Jan III
karta katalogowa kolekcji
Rzemiosło artystyczne
Poland
1805
Gilt bronze, cast
Ø 19 x 9.2 cm
Wil.3381
In 1805 the story of this exhibit was described in verse by Stanisław Kostka Potocki and engraved on its inside. The circlet was to protect a laurel tree planted by King Jan III in the Wilanów garden and in 1794 damaged by a cannon ball during the siege of Warsaw; fortunately, it grew back. This unique item recalls a legend about the king cultivating the gardens and planting trees.
The laurel probably still grew in 1815. Its branches decorated the Dictionary of the Polish Language (Słownik języka polskiego) during a reception held at the Hotel Angielski in Warsaw to mark the publication of this work by Szymon Bogumił Linde. The celebrations were organised by the Society of Friends of Science (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk), and a table displayed six volumes of the Dictionary, decorated with laurel taken from a Willanów tree planted at the time of Jan III, and sent intentionally for this reception by Countess Aleksandra Potocka née Lubomirska, the wife of Count Stanisław Potocki...
Krystyna Gutowska-Dudek
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