The castle’s treasury contains a not-insignificant historical item glorifying King Jan III Sobieski and his Viennese Victory, connected to the 150th anniversary of this event. The antique is an olifant – an ivory horn consisting of three separate segments (100cm long, 2.7kg). The entire surface of the horn is covered with a carving invoking the king, whose depiction is placed in a cartouche under which the inscription reads: ‘Johann Sobieski, Rex. Polon. MDCLXXXIII’. Among the rich carvings we can find the Polish-Lithuanian coat of arms with the royal crown, as well as battle scenes depicting entwined animals devouring each other, symbolising two opposing armies: the Polish and Turkish. In Polish collections, olifants of this type can also be found in the National Museums in Warsaw and Kraków, the Jan III Sobieski Palace Museum in Wilanów and the Castle Museum in Malbork. The Tower of London Museum and the National Museum in Prague also have them. The carvings on those olifants could almost be called a copy of the same design with minor or major modifications. It is believed to be a group of olifants that came out of a Dresden workshop to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna.
Treasury, Dębno Castle
Beacon