Opening hours: Closed Mondays and days following public holidays; open all other days, 10am-3pm; in summertime, May-September, 10am-4pm.
The Kazimierz Museum, opened in 1978, is the only museum of goldsmithery art in Poland. Contrary to what the name may suggest, but in line with the Polish tradition, it is not gold, but silver, that forms the core of the holdings. Indeed, the richest collection is that of the Polish silver extending from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. The Museum also preserves contemporary Polish silver. A valuble collection of ritual Jewish silver and West-European gold items completes the holdings.
The Museum's permanent exhibition shows chalices, including the oldest, fifteenth century Gothic piece and a sixteenth century Renaissance item, as well as crucifixes and other liturgical objects, including silver used in the Orthodox rite, a rarity in Polish collections. The ritual Jewish silver comprises Kiddush cups and goblets, herb pots, Sabbath candlesticks, Hanukkah lights and Torah adornments. No less beautiful is the collection of silverware, mostly from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, comprising flagons, glasses, pitchers, mugs, baskets, sugar bowls, trays, salt cellars, dining sets, candlesticks and candelabra from Polish, Russian, German, Austrian and French goldsmithery centres. Also on display are various trinkets, toiletries, spectacles, and the like. Contemporary Polish goldsmithery art is represented chiefly by jewellery made by leading artists, including internationally renowned silver-set amber items.
The permanent exhibition is divided into five exhibits: "Cult Object of the Christian and Judaic Faiths"; "Household Furnishings Manufactured in Polish Goldsmithery Workshops in the Seventeenth through the Twentieth Century"; "Neoclassical and Eclectic Warsaw Silver from the Late Eighteenth to the Late Nineteenth Century"; "Silver by Foreign Masters of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries"; "Contemporary Art of Goldsmithery". Temporary exhibitions are mounted every year to present gold exhibits selected from the extensive holdings of the Kazimierz Museum as well as from other Polish museums.
Muzeum Sztuki Złotniczej
Oddział Muzeum Nadwiślańskiego
ul. Zamkowa 2 (Budynek Dzwonnicy)
24-120 Kazimierz Dolny
Phone: (+48 81) 881 00 80, 881 02 88
Fax: (+48 81) 881 02 77
WWW: www.muzeumnadwislanskie.pl
Email: zlotnictwo@kazimierz-muzeum.pl