Budowniczy krakowski Dominik Pucek i inwentarz rzeczy po nim pozostałych

Abstrakt

CRACOW MASTER-BUILDER DOMINIK PUCEK AND AN INVENTORY OF HIS BELONGINGS

In Cracow’s municipal records there are many inventories of items left by deceased citizens of Cracow. In 18th-century inventories there is a list of movable and immovable property left by Dominik Pucek. Pucek had already attracted attention of Stanislaw Tomkowicz who studied a map of Cracow executed by Pucek. Tomkowicz was specially interested in a large library catalogue in the inventory, including a rich collection of books on architecture, collected by the owner from his professional angle. Such extensive book collections cannot be found in burghers’ property inventories very often. Pucek did not spare expenses on books, as well as on various paintings described in the inventory as ‘painting stock’. The number of paintings is also very large, when compared with other burghers’ properties. Therefore the owner himself seemed interesting; the inventory says a lot about the owner, his material status and the furnishing of his home.
Dominik Pucek (1723-1789), Cracow burgher, master-builder and land-surveyor, was, in modern terms, ‘professional engineer’. Master-builder himself, he was also builder’s son. His father’s name was Wojciech. Pucek run a workshop, performed various construction works in and outside Cracow, trained apprentices and journeymen who wanted to become master- builders. As a member of the Builders and Stone-Masons Guild in Cracow, he was elected president of the Guild. He performed construction works at Wawel, and in 1766 was appointed a supervisor of ‘the royal castle manufacture’, i.e., in fact, the manager of construction works. He supervised Wawel buildings till the end of his life; in the Wawel Cathedral there are still architectural details of his design.
Pucek did also land-surveying work, sometimes with quite good results — he made several important situation maps of Cracow and Kleparz. The first was a map of Kleparz of 1744, and the last was the map of the Cracow Main Market Square of 1787, with detailed architectural drawings of buildings on and around the Square. The work was done with ‘engineering proficiency’ and is a valuable material for researchers.
Pucek’s property listed in the inventory was all he accumulated during his life. The property included the house where he lived at Mikołajska Street (today number 3), the Rich Stall at the Main Market Square and the furnishings of his home. There was quite a few pieces of furniture in his home. Some of them were veneered, with rounded legs, or covered with leather. However, there was only one carpet damaged by moths, though other craftsmen sometimes owned several carpets. Pucek had large amount of jewellery and silver, though silver table sets are not mentioned in the inventory; neither it mentions faiences, though they were used from the mid-18th century. However, on the whole the home was quite well furnished, including many tin and copper vessels.
The majority of the inventory are lists of books and paintings. The library was quite impressive, as it included 190 items and some of items comprised several volumes. In the case of ‘various booklets’ there were as much as twenty or so for each item. Though the majority of books were on religious subjects, there are many books on history, travel, medicine etc. Books on architecture form a separate collection. These were mostly works by foreign, mainly German, authors. Among them there is an interesting work Polish Architect by Stanisław Solecki, architect and an outstanding scientist and engineer. The collection of paintings is also very rich, including 126 items; each item has several pieces. Traditionally, the religious themes prevail, but there are also portraits and landscapes. The paintings are in various techniques and on various materials, sometimes with richly decorated framings.
The inventor of Pucek’s property clearly shows that he preferred to collect books and paintings than other items. His property, including furnishing of his house, did not keep up with that of rich merchants or wealthy members of the city council.