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The shipwreck of the St Mikael in the autumn of 1747 took down not only the ship but also a part of everyday and festive life of that era. Due to the valuable objects found in the St Mikael, a reputation of a treasure ship has followed it for almost 40 years. However, most of the cargo was ordinary goods; the St Mikael was carrying items such as oak planks, Turkish yarn, granulated sugar, tobacco and several barrels of dried fish.
Carl Pouls Amiel from St Petersburg. Came from Amsterdam, heading for St Petersburg carrying:
1,000 pounds of Tobacco 1 1/2 riksdalers and 18 shillings
100 pounds of Crystal Sugar 1 1/2 riksdalers
100 pounds of Zinober 1 1/2 riksdalers
130 pounds of Turkish Yarn 1 1/2 riksdalers and 6 shillings
45 rolls of Calico1 1/2 riksdalers and 13 shillings
21 Oak Planks 17 shillings
1 hogshead of Vinegar 12 shillings
1/6 ship pounds of Dried Fish 2 shillings
1/8 barrels of Herring 2 shillings
1322 riksdalers worth of merchandise 16 riksdalers and 2 two shillings
1 bottle of Italian Wine 2 riksdalers
1 hogshead of Highlands Spirit 1/2 riksdaler
1 riksdaler to be paid to the shipper, leaving 26:12, Lighthouse fee 23 shillings
Doctor Christian Ahlström found the cargo manifest from a journal of Dutch ships which had passed the Sound in 1747. The journal is kept at the Danish state archives in Copenhagen. (Source: Ahlström, Christian: Syvyyksien sylistä. Karisto 1981.)
Customs lists found in the archives indicate that in addition to the actual cargo of food and other goods, the St Mikael was carrying very valuable merchandise which had not been detailed. The customs value of this merchandise accounted for more than 60 per cent of the value of the entire cargo. The silver and gold objects and the Meissen porcelain discovered during the diving expeditions are part of this merchandise.
Valuable findings usually attract public interest, but the value of the true treasure is not measured in gold and glitter. All wrecks which can provide posterity with a versatile and broadening view of the past world are treasure ships. The objects of the St Mikael are equally suited for studying shipping, sailors' everyday life and international trade relations in the 1740s.
The St Mikael has much to give to the research of objects. As an example, the mariner's cross-staff used for navigation on the St Mikael is a real rarity: only about a dozen such staffs have been found in wrecks globally. The St Mikael is particularly renowned for its valuable Meissen porcelain finds. These have significant research value, because they provide new information on the early production of the Meissen porcelain factory, which was one of the first of its kind in Europe.
© Anna Nurmio-Lahdenmäki 2000
During the field work carried out in 1997 and 1998, divers retrieved more than 100 objects from the St Mikael belonging to the early production of the Meissen porcelain factory, one of the first such factories in Europe. The divers also found original packaging moss used for protecting the porcelain; this has not been found anywhere before. The porcelain find of the St Mikael is unique. It contains parts of seven different services and elaborate figurines. Nothing similar has ever before been retrieved from an underwater wreck. The number and age of the objects render the Meissen collection held by the Maritime Museum of Finland unparalleled on a global scale.
The Meissen dishes lifted from the St Mikael include so-called Böttger porcelain. The Böttger dishes from the St Mikael are the only artefacts of this type in Finland, and they are also very rare elsewhere. They carry significant value in terms of cultural history, since Johann Friedrich Böttger is considered to be the father of porcelain manufacture in Europe. Even in the days when the St Mikael sank, Böttger porcelain was a collector's brand desired by nobility, sold by goldsmiths and stored in vaults. It is likely that the porcelain carried on the St Mikael was intended for the imperial court in St Petersburg.
Porcelain invented in 1707 by alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719) and Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651-1708) was stoneware-like red porcelain resembling the Yixing earthenware invented by Ary de Milde in Delft in 1677. In 1708, Böttger manufactured his first glazed porcelain items, and the next year, he presented them to the King. Friedrich Augustus I, Elector of Saxony (Augustus the Strong, later King Augustus II of Poland, 1670-1733), favoured industrial enterprises and was inspired by Böttger's results. He consequently established the first porcelain factory in Europe in Dresden under the name Königliche Porcellain Fabrique on 23 January 1710. However, after six months, the factory was transferred to Albrechtsburg in Meissen. Up until 1713, the main product of the factory was red stoneware (Böttgersteinzeug), the production of which did not cease until 1731.
Production during Böttger's era is characterised by baroque design by Johan Jacob Irminger (died in 1742) who worked as a court goldsmith in Dresden, relief decorations and gold and silver decorations. Multiple colour painting was also experimented with but with little success. Several porcelain products from the Böttger era were painted by outside painters working from home (Hausmaler); these mainly lived in Augsburg.
Most of the porcelain found in the St Mikael is white porcelain with a relief decoration. Some objects represent the type manufactured during Böttger's times and some the model with vine motifs, revised by Johann Joachim Kändler in 1741.
After Böttger died, Johan Gregor Höroldt (1696-1775) from the Vienna porcelain factory started as the manager of the Meissen factory in 1720. He had considerable impact on the decoration used by Meissen until 1731. During Höroldt's era, the factory developed a magnificent colour range. The decorative motifs ranged from landscapes to sea and harbour views and to depictions of towns and royal courts.
Initially, Höroldt ordered copper drawings for the factory, used as models for the decorations, but he soon started to draw the decoration models himself. He developed new colours and a characteristic painting style of his own. His decorations typically depict miniature Chinese motifs, chinoiserie, which were popular from around 1723 to the 1750s. Indianische Blumen (East Indies flowers) were a particularly popular and versatile decoration.
In 1739, Johann David Kretschmer developed the famous onion model, Zwiebelmuster. This and the other popular decorations created between 1735 and 1740 – Strohblumenmuster, Tischenmuster and Distelmuster – have been copied by almost all porcelain factories.
Parts of a tea, coffee and mocha service, Indianische Blumen and Gebrochener Stab painted in purple, from approx. 1728. The decorative painting Indianische Blumen is based on the decoration on the Japanese Kakiemon porcelain. Some dishes have also been signed with the painters' initials.
The development of a cobalt blue decorative painting under the glazing had started in 1719. Initially, this work was in the hands of David Köhler (died in 1723), an assistant of Böttger, and Johann Georg, Johann Gottfried and Johann Gottlieb Mehlhorn, the latter of whom moved to Copenhagen in 1754. Samuel Stöltzel was appointed Köhler's successor.
Meissen regarded the blue dye painting as particularly important: it was one of the gems of the factory, and the entire 1730s were used for developing this method. Finally, in 1739, the factory came up with a glazing which did not blur or fade out the painting.
Parts of a tea, coffee and mocha service, Strohblumen or Blaublümchen decoration painted in cobalt blue, from approx. 1740. The cobalt blue paintwork was first experimented with in 1719. Since the related technology was not well known, mass production did not start until 1739. The painted motifs were based on the Chinese blue and white porcelain. The relief decoration on this service is the so-called broken staff or Gebrochener Stab. Most dishes have the painter's signatures: w likely refers to Christian Gotthold Walther in the 1740s, g either to Johan Benjamin Gerlach or Johann Gottlieb.
Coffee cup, signed by blue dye painter g = either Johan Benjamin Gerlach or Johann Gottlieb, E = either Carl Friedrich Eggebrecht or Christian Friedrich Engelmann after 1741.
In 1731, sculptor Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775), one of the two famous artists during the early period, started working at the Meissen factory. His impression is especially seen in the design of figurines and service models.
The blue paintwork, which alongside Höroldt's gold and multi-colour painting had dominated the early period, had attracted several specialised painters by early 1730. Out of the 40 painters of the factory, 10 specialised in blue paintwork; Johann Georg Heintze, who worked at the factory from 1720 to 1748, was one of the best. Johann Gottfried Klinger (1711-1781) painted shaded flowers and insects between 1726 and 1746.
Adam Friedrich von Löwenfinck (1714-1754) was the most skilful painter of all. He is one of the foremost persons in the history of European earthenware, especially as a developer of high-standard enamel painting. He was trained in Meissen from 1726 to 1736, after which he worked in Bayreuth from 1736 to 1737, in Ansbach from 1737 to 1740 and in Fulda from 1744 to 1745. In 1745, he attempted to establish a faience factory of his own in Waissenau, but as this did not work out, he moved to Höchst where he worked from 1746 to 1749. After his endeavours to establish another faience factory in Koblenz had also failed, he worked for the rest of his life in Hagenau.
One of the most prominent designers during the early years of the Meissen factory was Johann Gottlieb Kirchner, hired for the factory in 1727. He drew up animal sculptures of life size for the Japanese palace of Augustus the Strong. Ivory sculptor Johann Christoph Ludwig Lücke (1703-1780) worked as a designer from 1728 to 1750.
Augustus the Strong died in 1733. Kirchner resigned from the factory the same year and Kändler took over the responsibility for design. Kändler was reassigned to design dinner services, but figurines soon became his special interest. Kändler's crinoline groups, comedy figures, craftspeople and animal figures provided a pattern for European porcelain design.
There were also other prominent designers at the factory: Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1735-1749), Peter Reinicke (until 1743) and Friedrich Elias Meyer (1748-1761). Friedrich Augustus II (Augustus III, 1696-1763), son of Augustus the Strong, appointed the autocratic Count Heinrich von Brühlin (1700-1763) to head the factory in 1733. Between 1737 and 1741, Kändler designed for him the world-famous service of 2000 parts, referred to as the Swan Service (Schwanenservice).
Man and falcon, designed by Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1696-1749) in approx. 1746 (this is one of a pair also showing a woman and falcon).
Other figurines manufactured by the Meissen porcelain factory, salvaged from the St Mikael:
Shepherd boy playing the flute, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775) and Peter Reinicke (1715-1768) in the 1740s.
Shepherd girl and sheep, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler and Peter Reinicke in the 1740s. Wild boar male, Resting sheep, designed by Peter Reinicke in 1741.
Fox and rooster, designed by Johann Friedrich Eberlein in 1745 (pair to fox and chicken).
Resting deer, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler in the 1740s.
Graphic leaves, which became very popular in approximately 1725, provided Höroldt with an opportunity to withdraw from the Chinese models. He started to favour sea, harbour and town views in particular. The graphic design was of French and Dutch origin. The factory especially purchased copper drawings made after paintings by Watteau, Lancret and Boucher.
In about 1740, the rococo style began to displace the earlier painting decoration with baroque influences. As of 1735, European flowers, Holzschnittblumen, appeared alongside Chinese flower paintings. Holzschnittblumen were also referred to as Ombrierte Blumen, shaded flowers. As painting was liberated in the 1740s, the flower painting was renamed Deutsche Blumen, German flowers. The models for the flowers were copied from a flora atlas by Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, published in 1735.
Parts of a banquet service of Alt-Ozier model designed by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775) and his assistant Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1696-1749) in approximately 1736. The decorative painting Deutsche Blumen was first referred to as Saxe Ombré in 1735. The relief decoration was known as Ozier or osier border. The model was revised between 1741 and 1745 after which the old model was called Alt-Ozier and the new one Neu-Ozier. The flower motifs were copied from a flora atlas by Johann Wilhelm Weinman, printed in Regensburg in 1735. This book was purchased in Meissen in 1745. This decoration motif was gradually referred to as Deutsche Blumen, German flowers.
Parts of a tea, coffee and mocha service, Deutsche Blumen painted in purple, approx. 1740. Some of the items have been signed with the initials of the painters.
The Second Silesian War (1744-1745) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) with related occupations meant a setback for the Meissen factory. Höroldt escaped to France but Kändler remained in Meissen. Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, placed a considerable order for porcelain dishes from the factory and also ordered a new artistic style for the factory, reflecting French neoclassicism. Johan Joachim Wincklemann's book Geschichte der Kunst der Altertums published in 1764 contributed to the Meissen factory, like other porcelain factories, shifting to neoclassic design.
© Heikki Hyvönen 2000