Lost during World War II from the pre-war Krasiński Museum the exceptionally sophisticated hunting rifle is returning to Polish collections. It was recovered by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under an agreement with the American Cleveland Museum of Art.

According to historical sources, the rifle was donated to Count Wincenty Krasiński by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. It is a richly decorated hunting weapon made at the beginning of the 19th century in the workshop of the famous French gunsmith Jean Lepage. Its most extensive description and photos were taken by the pioneer of Polish photography, Karol Beyer. They were included in the Catalog of the Exhibition of Antiquities and Objects of Art, published in 1856.

Based on the photographs in the catalog, Polish experts found the missing rifle in the collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art, and then proved that it was a Polish war loss, thanks to the documentation collected by the employees of the Department of Restitution of Cultural Property of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Fruitful cooperation with The Cleveland Museum of Art made allowed the ministry to recover this unique object for Polish history.

The rifle was part of the military collection of Count Wincenty Krasiński, and then by the next generations of the Krasińskis. These military items, along with the collection of paintings and handicrafts, became the basis of the collection of the Krasiński Museum in Warsaw. Created by the collector’s passion of the count Wincenty Krasiński, his armory hall in its heyday was the largest collection of military items in Poland.

The outbreak of World War II led to the destruction of both the building of the Library and the Museum of Krasiński Estates in Warsaw, as well as the majority of the collections stored there. Many of them were looted and taken to Germany.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński