Chain fragment

The chain fragment preserved massive smooth oval links. Heavy gold chains of this type were an ordinary decoration of both men's and women's outfits in the 16th-17th centuries. They were worn alone, linked into several or even more than a dozen cords or together with jewels hung on them.The chain was found in 1946 when sifting debris lying on the floor of the crypt of the Castle Church in Szczecin as the burial place of Pomeranian dukes. Probably, it was broken during the robbery of valuables from the coffins of the Griffin family. It is not known when this might have taken place. In 1862, when the crypt was visited for renovation works in the castle church, the commission found that most coffins had been opened and robbed earlier.It is also difficult to determine to whom it belonged. A triple gold chain with links of similar size can be seen on a posthumous portrait showing Barnim X/ (XII) (1549-1603) or his brother Casimir VII (/IX) (1557-1605), who died two years later. However, the commonness of this type of decoration makes it impossible to indicate the specific owner in the absence of unequivocal source information. Similar chains appear on the portraits of many dukes of the Griffin dynasty.

Monika Frankowska-Makała