Bracelet from sarcophagus of Duke Francis I (1577 - 1620)

The bracelets made in 1596 for Duchess Clara of Brunswick-Lüneburg and later in possession of her son Francis I belong to bracelets with armour weave. They were made of twisted, interlaced links, imitating a chainmail weave. Bracelets of this type were popular in Europe at the end of the 16th and in the first decades of the 17th centuries. Both men and women wore them. Similarly, impressive gold bracelets have been recorded on numerous portraits from that period (e.g., on the portrait of the Pomeranian Duke Jan Fryderyk in the altar of the Castle Church in Słupsk from 1602). Several smaller gold bracelets with armour-like weaves were also found in the Skrwilno treasure (in the collection of the District Museum in Toruń). Bracelet clasps were usually decorated with enamelled or non-enamelled decorations. Apart from purely ornamental patterns, they were decorated with religious or coat of arms motifs. The rectangular clasps of Szczecin's bangles are decorated with the so-called great coat of arms of the Pomeranian Duchy consisting of nine fields. Wild men in helmets with machetes in their hands serve as keepers. The back and sides of the buckles have inscriptions referring to Princess Clara and Duke Francis. The coats of arms and inscriptions engraved in metal were originally colourfully enamelled. Nowadays, the enamel is preserved in fragments. Most researchers regard the Duchess Claire's bracelets as a Szczecin-made product, associating their manufacture with the court goldsmith of the House of Griffin, Egidius Blancke. However, the common occurrence of such ornaments and the lack of archival sources do not allow to unequivocally attribute them to a Szczecin-based goldsmith, although it cannot be ruled out that Blancke made the bracelets, or at least was the author of the decoration with the motif of the coat of arms of the Pomeranian Duchy and inscriptions on the buckles.

Monika Frankowska-Makała