WACŁAW FEDOROWICZ – ZAPOMNIANY KOLEKCJONER Z WITEBSKA WACŁAW FEDOROWICZ – A FORGOTTEN COLLECTOR FROM VITEBSK

• Published in: Museology
• Main Author: Konrad, Ajewski
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Polish
• Published: Krajowy Ośrodek Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków 2014
• Subjects: archeo; museo; dvina
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5604/04641086.1112246; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/433270.pdf; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/433270

Wacław Fedorowicz (1848–1911) – sworn advocate, one of the most prominent collectors of Polish and Borderlands antiques. Living in Vitebsk, he created a unique private museum at home, gathering relicts of former Eastern Borderlands of the Republic of Poland (the so-called ancient Poland). The collections were catalogued, labeled and presented in special showcases. The collections comprised specialised library (ca. 1000 volumes) and museum collections (between 4500 and 7000 collectibles according to diverse estimations), including: archaeological collection, historical collection dating from the 13th to 19th century, armoury (ca. 300 pieces of military equipment), numismats (ca. 2000 pieces), sigillographic and ethnographic collection, civil orders, hunting gear, stove tiles, antique door handles and Gdansk locks, plaques and statuettes of historical figures, antique women’s and men’s clothes, vessels, lighting devices, jewelry, collection of pipes and snuffboxes dating from the 17th - 18th century, and antiques related to art and science: manuscripts, drawings, pictures of temples, churches, chapels of Borderlands etc., as well as a couple of old Polish oil portraits. The unique collection of masonics dating from 18th and 19th century was one of the biggest in Russia (157 showpieces). Being also active in the field of science, Fedorowicz published i.a. Armorial of Orsha, contributed to the publication of Armorial of the Vitebsk nobility, and initiated the joint publication From the area of Dvina in 1909, presenting the national achievements of the so-called Borderlands. He was one of the founders, and afterwards a member and vice-president of the Vitebsk Archaeological Committee, an associate member of the Polish Sightseeing Society in Warsaw, and from 1885 an associate member of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts of the Kingdom of Poland. After the collector’s death, his collections were nationalised in 1917 and moved to other locations in 1918. In the years 1921–1923 the collection had been ...