Pilichoski, Woyciech (EN)

Pilichoski Woyciech, *after 1750, †after 25 November 1809 Kraków (?), Polish luthier. From around 1773, he was listed in Krakow as a lute and guitar builder and a guild master. On 20 November 1809, he asked to be released from the local guild due to his old age, for which he received the consent of the town hall on 25 November. He used handwritten identification cards. In the National Museum in Krakow, there is his violin, covered with yellowish-gold varnish (signed: Woyciech Pilichoski / w Krakowie 1792), and in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, a theorbanised bass cittern, with 2 peg chambers, 16 melody strings (double), 8 bourdon strings, round sound hole with a rosette (star), capotast automatically switched on from below (signature: Woyciech Pilichoski / zrobił w Krakowie Ru [made in Krakow by Ru] 1799). Before World War II, the National Museum in Warsaw had an English guitar signed: Woyciech Pilichoski w Krakowie 1807 (purchased in 1918 from the collection of Gustaw Soubise-Bisier, lost during the war). Pilichoski’s violin from 1773 is also known. He probably had sons: Dominik, an organ builder, and Józef, a luthier.

Literature: W. Kamiński Skrzypce polskie, Kraków 1969; J. Kusiak Skrzypce od A do Z, Kraków 1988, 2^nd ed. 1999; W. Łyjak Instrumentarze krakowscy na początku XIX wieku, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1984 No. 2.