Poland’s culture ministry is investigating the provenance of a 16th-century sword put up for sale in Germany, which the auction house claims is likely to have belonged to Sigismund III Vasa, king of Poland from 1587-1632.
Hundreds of thousands of historical and cultural artefacts were looted from Poland during the Nazi German occupation of World War Two, most of which remain missing.
The Polish government has recently renewed its efforts to secure their return, but the culture ministry emphasises that there is no evidence so far that this particular sword was stolen.
According to the Carsten Zeige auction house in Berlin, the almost one-meter-long sword dates from 1592 and was “probably from the possessions of Sigismund III Vasa of Poland”. It is due to be auctioned on 14 January.
The auction house’s catalogue lists a starting price of €30,000 for the item, which is made of steel and features gold and silver inlaid in relief, including the image of a Polish eagle. However, it does not provide information on who currently owns the item or how it was obtained.
As well as being the elected king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania – which were then in a commonwealth – the Swedish-born Sigismund III Vasa was also king of Sweden and grand duke of Finland from 1592 to 1599.
Following media reports of the sale, Poland’s culture ministry announced that “the object has been reviewed in terms of its possible loss as a result of World War Two” but that “currently there are no grounds to take restitution action”.
However, it added that “the provenance of the object is still being investigated”, including whether the sword was indeed ever linked to Sigismund III Vasa.
Last month, Poland condemned the sale by another auction house in Berlin of a painting by Wassily Kandinsky that it says was stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw.
Shortly after, Poland appealed to UNESCO for help in securing the return of items that remain missing after being looted during the war. It accused Germany of “not showing the will or desire to return plundered goods”.
Image credits: Carsten Zeige auction house
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
