Sculpture on Mariacka Street

Technique: sculpture, pink granite

Dimensions: approx. 90 cm (height)

Object: The sculpture stands next to the balustrade of the stairs leading to the front stoop of the tenement house at 15 Mariacka Street and, at the same time, the stairs to the basement. The sculpture used to be connected to the plinth of the non-existent stoop pillar. An inscription “Dawid” and the date “1981” are in the sculpture’s lower part, on the sides. The sculpture resembles Łosowski’s “Marabou” figure located close to St. Mary’s Basilica, and its location on the site of a former structural pillar recalls the tradition of richly decorated stoops in Gdańsk. The figure may have been made earlier, in the 1680s, as oone of the versions of  “Marabou”. In the 1980s, the artist may engraved inscriptions commissioned by the amber workshop “Dawid”, as both studios existed right next to each other at that time.

Place: The sculpture stands at the entrance to the “Dawid” jewellery workshop on Mariacka Street.

Information about the author: Alfons Łosowski (04 Jan 1908–27 Jun 1988). Born in Orkiewicze in the Novogrudok region (currently in Belarus). He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the S. Báthory University in Vilnius under the supervision of Prof. Kuna, Mikenas and Aleksandrowicz.

During the war, he was a Home Army soldier of the Vilnius district. After the war, he settled in Gdańsk. Until 1955, he was working on reconstructing sculptures as part of the Gdańsk Old Town restoration. He brought back to life sculptures decorating many façades of the most famous tenement houses, all based on modest, surviving photographic documentation. In 1955, he started independent creative work in his studio at 11/13 Mariacka Street.

He authored several outdoor sculptures within the Gdańsk area, which he donated to the city in 1966, as well as many sculptures in public buildings in Poland, in museums and private collections. Granite and wood were his primary working materials. He created a distinctive style that combined organic form with a natural stone texture.

Condition of the object: no comments

Owner: Dawid S.C. company

Author of the entry: Kora Kowalska