Silver plaques as votive offernings from Toruń goldsmith Jan Letyński’s workshop

Abstract

The paper deals with votive plaques originating from the workshop of Jan Letyński, a member of the Toruń goldsmiths’ guild from 1742 to 1789. Such objects made by him have been largely neglected by researchers, even if they constitute a considerable part of the master’s production. It proved possible to identify forty extant plaques by Letyński, some of which have already been discussed in literature. They can be found, above all, in Roman Catholic churches and religious sanctuaries of the Chełmno Land: Boleszyn, Chełmno, Lipinki, Lubawa, and Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. A few of them are also preserved in Catholic cult centres in Cuyavia (Młyniec, Pieranie), and northern Masovia – all these territories are rather close to Toruń. In the town itself two items are now deposited in the collection of the District Museum, including a plaque dated 1748, which originates from the local church of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. Furthermore, one plate remains in the possession of the Archdiocesan Museum in Warsaw. The objects discussed are diversified with regard to technical quality and artistic value, typically for the genre. Several of them display high class of execution, although in general this is not the case; therefore, the majority may be attributed to workshop assistants. Votive plaques by Jan Letyński also exhibit a wide variety of iconographic and decorative motives: from plain depictions of human body parts, or animals, to religious scenes of sophisticated composition surrounded by rich Rococo ornament.