The silver communion jug of Sts. Peter & Paul in Liegnitz
Cylindrical vessel with a scroll handle on a moulded basal ring. The domed lid with a bifurcated thumbrest engraved above with an inscription from the donor "Zur Danckbarkeit für die hier genoßene Seele-Labung und zur Ehre Des Evangelischen Gottes-Dienstes, hinterlies in ihrē Tode dem Altar der Kirchen zu S:S: Petr. und Paul Dis Andencken. Fr: Anna Maria Handtkin, geb: Breitenhahnin. geb: in Ohlau Ao. 1675: d, 8: Mart: gestorbē in Lignitz Ao 1722 d: 6. Jun." (In thanks for the spiritual nourishment received here and in honour of the Evangelical church service, donated here to the altar of Sts. Peter and Paul in rememberance, Mrs Anna Maria Handtkin, née: Breitenhahnin. born: in Ohlau Ao. 1675: d, 8: March: died in Lignitz Ao 1722 d: 6th June.) Decorated with three oval reliefs with depictions of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The base engraved with the weight "M.7: lot.14:" H 31 cm, weight 1,519 g.
Breslau, marks of Tobias Schier, around 1722.
The church of St. Peter and Paul in Liegnitz was built as early as the 13th/14th century based on the design of the Church of Saint Elisabeth in Wroclaw and became Protestant after the introduction of the Reformation in 1522/23. While its exterior changed greatly over the years - the façade was redesigned in 1835 according to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel - the valuable interior of the three-nave church was largely preserved. The communion jug probably left Liegnitz in 1945, when the church was reverted to Catholicism after its transfer to Poland. A sculpture of Martin Luther above the main portal was replaced again by the figure of Our Lady originally placed there - and apparently parts of the Protestant church equipment were also sold.
Provenance
Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.