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Hunting rifle of 19th-century Polish count returns to Poland from United States

26.09.2022 23:55
A hunting rifle which was Napoleon’s gift for Polish count Wincenty Krasiński has returned to Poland from the Cleveland Museum of Art in the United States. It was believed to have been plundered from Polish collections during World War II, before it was acquired by the Cleveland Museum in 1966.
Audio
The rifle was a gift from Napoleon to Wincenty Krasiński.
The rifle was a gift from Napoleon to Wincenty Krasiński.Wikipedia/domena publilczna

During a presentation ceremony at the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Gliński said that the return of Krasiński’s rifle is another example of the good cooperation with the United States in the process of recovering looted works of art.

US Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzeziński, said: “The intersection between the arts, law-enforcement and culture is an area that we don’t usually hear much about. This is why it is even more special to mark this occasion today. I am so thrilled that a significant historical artefact is back in Warsaw. I look forward to greet colleagues from the Cleveland Museum of Art to see it in its new home, here in Poland.”

Brzeziński added that the FBI's Art Crime Team and Evidence Response Team had their share in the recovery of the artefact. Jake Archer, who conducts art and cultural property-related investigations and repatriations as the FBI’s Special Agent of both teams, has been awarded a Badge of Merit for Polish Culture.

The richly-decorated rifle was discovered in the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mariusz Pilus of the Communi Hereditate Foundation, who is working closely with the Polish authorities in the recovery of stolen artworks.

The rifle will now be included in the core exhibition of the Museum of Polish History. Its director Robert Kostro said during the event: “It is a great day. In Cleveland, this rifle would be just a beautiful artefact. Back in Poland, it is not only a beautiful artefact but also an important element of Polish patriotic tradition.”

(mk/pjm)

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.