Baroque Silver Bookinding of 18th-century Cantional

Hymnal, i.e. a collection of religious songs for Protestants, was published in 1706 by a Gdansk printer, a Catholic, Szymon Reiniger the Younger (d. 1712) by a resolution of the Protestant congregations of the [Polish] Crown and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was intended for Lutherans, Calvinists and Bohemian Brethren. The presented copy of the hymnal has a silver binding, made in Baroque style by an unknown goldsmith from Gdansk. The front and back covers as well as the spine feature a repetitive floral ornamentation, merged by dynamic floral vortices. The flowers are fixed with rivets to a silver gilt metal sheet constituting the background of the binding. Cast silver clasps feature the analogous floral ornament. This copy, unmarked with previous ownership marks, was purchased by the Ossolineum in 1954.