It may be no surprise to people who love the city and those deeply interested in its history. But the average resident does not know that Bolesławiec potters may have been involved in the 19th-century production of figurines of Osiris, Isis or scarab amulets, which were later traded on the black market as ancient antiques.
A reference to the fake “antiques” from Bolesławiec in Silesia appeared in the book “Gods, Graves and Scholars” by German journalist and critic C. W. Ceram (published in 1949). The author recounts what happened to art collector and connoisseur Juliusz Meier-Graefe (1867–1935).
The man was travelling through Egypt with a guide when he “accidentally” came across a figurine. He found it buried shallowly in the sand. He conducted his own investigation, which led him to a shop belonging to a certain dealer. The antique seller showed him a collection of identical figurines. He had them hidden in a cupboard. As he said, they had all come from Bolesławiec in Silesia, although he had bought them from an intermediary in Cairo.
The entire story is an interesting fact well known to Anna Bober-Tubaj, an art historian and director of the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec. “Some time ago, we conducted a small historical investigation, but neither the official scholarly studies nor the product catalogues of Bolesławiec companies contain any references to this type of product,” says the museum director. “It seems obvious, after all, since this was production in the so-called ‘grey market’.”
Egypt’s monuments were discovered for Europe by Napoleon Bonaparte. He took a group of 187 scientists on his military expedition to the Nile (1798–1801). The researchers described Egypt in a twelve-volume work, which was published from 1809 to 1822. A fascination with Egypt took hold in Europe. Many art collectors appeared, eager to buy every antique from that country, especially since its market value was high.
The removal of archaeological finds from Egypt was sometimes simply looting. Strict customs controls were introduced. Customs officers checked tourists’ trunks to see whether they were taking forbidden souvenirs out of Egypt. For this reason, tourists were not inclined to boast about, or show to many people, statuettes dating back thousands of years that they had bought on the black market (and sometimes found themselves in the sand). They hid the “antique” carefully from customs officers and could only discover the forgery at home. If the imitation had been made perfectly, they would sell it at auction to a museum or gallery. They may have been just as unaware that it was a forgery as the new owner. It is therefore unknown how many examples of this type of “Bolesławiec ceramics” still remain in recognised collections of Egyptian art around the world. It turns out that the saying “Not only saints make pots” is very relevant in the city of ceramics.
This material was produced with the help of Anna Bober-Tubaj, director of the Museum of Ceramics. Jakub Kamocki wrote to our editorial office about the fake antiques produced in Bolesławiec. He wants to publish his historical thriller about the practice. The author wrote to us seeking contact with the publisher of “Głos Bolesławca” (a newspaper published from 1992 to 1997, archived on the Istotne.pl website thanks to the help of the Bolesławiec Lovers’ Association and the Museum of Ceramics).
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)