c. 1700 or 1826
oak wood, brass, granite (?); woodwork, stonework, casting, chiseling
dim .: height approx. 70; width approx. 140; main approx. 120 cm
storage location: unknown
In August 1826, the land councilor of the Kwidzyn district, baron Anton von Rosenberg-Klötzen (1790-1849), made one of the first donations for the future collection of the Malbork Castle. It was a baroque table, which due to the use of three different materials (oak wood, granite and brass), was one of the most interesting and valuable monuments in the pre-war furniture craftsmanship collection.
Until recently, this piece of furniture, which was probably made in a Gdańsk workshop around 1700, was considered to be lost. Recently, an employee of the Art and Artistic Crafts Department of the Castle Museum in Malbork, identified an important element of the table structure. This means that probably between 1945 and 1960, the monument was deliberately dismembered. Its stone top, an oak grille and brass leg connectors made of oak, which were in the form of full-scale figures in the form of small, naked boys, were separated. A stone top and brass legs – the figurines are lost. An armature and possibly leg connectors (not yet found) were left in Malbork.
The structure and characteristic features of the oak leave no doubt that it is a piece of furniture donated 192 years ago by Baron Rosenberg.
The way of treating the monument shows the modus operandi characteristic of the activities carried out in the first post-war years. It cannot be ruled out that the elements of the table were stolen.
(by B. Butryn)
