The Role and Activities of Custodians of Aristocratic Collections in Bohemia in the 19th Century and First Half of the 20th Century: Selected Examples

Abstract

In a number of European countries, entrusting the care of the extensive sets of collections owned by aristocrats to a special employee or employees had been customary since the Renaissance. The focus of this study is the period from the beginning of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. Selected individuals who together represent approximately one hundred and fifty years of care for collections located in aristocratic residences are presented. The academy-trained painter František Horčička, the former town executioner Carl Huss and the husband-and-wife team Wilhelmina and Karl Vincenz Auersperg devoted themselves to collections in the 19th century, while professor Josef Schmoranz and lawyer Josef Polák did so in the first half of the 20th century.