Did individual Polish nobles have large collections of swords?

[Sakalord364]

Of course a well to do nobleman in any country would likely own multiple swords, but I heard that Polish nobles collected sabres like one would do with coins or stamps today. Could such habits have occurred, or would it have been unlikely for large collections to be formed by individual enthusiasts?

[Radboud]

Of course a well to do nobleman in any country would likely own multiple swords, but I heard that Polish nobles collected sabres like one would do with coins or stamps today. Could such habits have occurred, or would it have been unlikely for large collections to be formed by individual enthusiasts?

I think you need to narrow your question to specifi periods. By the late 19th century the maintenance and supply of the army had switched over to the responsibility so a nobleman of this time would have little reason to have a large collection of swords for any other reason than interest or inheritance.

However in earlier times, when nobles maintained or funded garrisons, they would have kept an armoury for those soldiers which included weapons and armour. Many of the surviving collections we have today are built from such garrisons.

[awdaniec666]

Yes they do and did have large collections. Even today this tradition is kept alive - the sabre has a special place in our culture to this day. Despite all the theft and destruction happening in Poland, there has always been the urge to regain cultural goods, whether through public institutions or private collectors. In the course of time many private collections became museums. Most known the collection of Izabela Czartoryska, a Polish noblewoman from the early 19th century.

[midelburgo]

There is polish seller who appears active at a Spanish site and used to be at catawiki.
I got from him two napoleonic sabres with Spanish inscriptions, no me saques sin razón and Por mi ley y por mi rey.
I asked him for the provenance, as Polish lancers were often in the Peninsula. He told me he had bought a Polish castle armoury and he was selling it by pieces.