"The Life and Work of Paschalis Jakubowicz" - Maria Chmielewska-Jakubowicz

Maria Chmielewska-Jakubowicz's article is devoted to the life and work of Paschalis Jakubowicz — an Armenian entrepreneur, founder of the famous Lipków manufactory of kontusz sashes, whose products have survived in the museum collections of Warsaw and Moscow.

Introduction and Context
The author begins by describing kontusz sashes as an important element of the Polish szlachta (noble) costume of the 18th century, produced in workshops known as "persiarnie" following the model of Ottoman and Persian goods. Among the many production centers (Słuck, Korzec, Grodno, Kraków, Gdańsk, and others), the "Paschalis" mark stood out as a sign of the highest quality.

Biography and Entrepreneurial Activity
Paschalis Jakubowicz, an Armenian born in Tokat, arrived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and became a successful merchant and financier. The key areas of his activity included:

• trade in Oriental goods (silk, Persian shawls, tobacco);
• joint ownership of shops with Antoni Kreger and Maciej Łukasiewicz;
• a clientele drawn from the nobility and the royal court, including King Stanisław August himself;
• investments in real estate in Warsaw, Kraków, and Brody.

The Manufactory in Lipków
The author pays special attention to the founding of the "persiarnia" — first in Warsaw's Powiśle district, and later, on a larger scale, in Lipków, where artistic direction was carried out by the Lyon specialist François Séliman. The sashes were woven from imported raw materials and combined Oriental decorativeness with European style, bringing their owner considerable income and renown.

Noble Title and Public Activity
King Stanisław August granted Jakubowicz a noble coat of arms (a paschal lamb with a banner), whose initials ("P.J.") were used as a mark on his products, including the inscription "Paschalis me fecit." The author also notes the hero's public activity: his chairmanship of the Merchants' Brotherhood, membership in the city magistrate, participation in developing a project for the capital's police force, and his tenure as a deputy in the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw.

Legacy and Decline
The article examines the fate of the estate in Lipków — the construction of the Church of St. Roch, a distillery, and mills — and the subsequent decline of the manufactory following the Kościuszko Uprising. It traces the genealogical line of his descendants, which led to the family's Polonization through marriages with the Polish szlachta.

Catalogue of Products
The concluding part of the article provides a detailed description of three sashes from Paschalis's manufactory held in the collection of the State Historical Museum in Moscow (Nos. 70/21384, 41/20760, 1/21926), specifying the technique of execution, ornamental motifs, and characteristic maker's marks.

The article's key conclusion is that the activity of Paschalis Jakubowicz represents a significant example of the Armenian contribution to Polish economic and artistic culture of the 18th century, and that the surviving examples of his manufactory remain valuable evidence of the synthesis of Eastern and European traditions in decorative and applied art.