Objects

As part of the seminar “Swiss Collections, Swiss Connection” (Fall 2018, Bern University), the participants worked on pieces of interest for the exhibition Exotic Switzerland, to be held in Lausanne in 2020 (Palais de Rumine). Here, we present the results of their research, as a preview of the show.

Trachtenbild von Stans – Valentina Shasivari

Joseph Reinhard, Trachtenbild von Stans, um 1800, Öl auf Leinwand, 71.5 x 58.4 cm, unsigniert Kunstmuseum Luzern.

The Trachtenbild von Stans was painted by the Lucernese painter Joseph Reinhard around 1800. It was part of the second cycle of paintings presenting Swiss costumes, so called Trachten, as they were imagined to be typical of Swiss people at the time. The cycle counts around 46 paintings, subdivided by region and usually showing a couple or a family doing specific chores. After the success of the first cycle of Trachten which Reinhard painted on commission for a rich industrialist in the 1790es the second cycle was made on Joseph Reinhard’s own initiative. Here he relied more on typical elements of genre-paining to conceive an idea of Swiss peasantry.
On the Trachtenbild von Stans Reinhard sets the peasant family drinking milk in front of the ruins of a rustical building, a common visual code for originality and timelessness since 17th century landscape painting. In this painting this idea is combined with idealized features of Swiss peasantry such as a harmonious family drinking milk and the stylized peasant clothing to present rural Swiss life and simplicity as if it had “always been like that”.

In reality though these ideas were a product of 18th century scientific discourses in the wake of Swiss nation building. It was a protestant scholar from Zurich, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, who a few decades earlier laid the basis for the idea of Swiss peasants as an alpine people of “milk-eaters”, living from the gifts of their surrounding nature. This image was later taken up by writers and novelists such as Rousseau, who unleashed a touristic boom with his influential novel “Nouvelle Heloise” in which he depicts Switzerland as an idyllic and peaceful alpine island. It is not a coincidence though that the long-lasting image of Switzerland as a heavenly Arcadia of the alps was born with the onset of industrialization, which never seems to be a topic in the images circulating at the time. The image production of this time and the invention of the Trachtenbild along with it can thus be read as a sort of aesthetic compensation in a time of economic changes and agrarian reforms, spreading ideals of a simple life in humility of good peasants living in harmony with nature. The paintings from the second cycle have been exposed in a cabinet of the painter himself and attracted a lot of scholars and tourists, who were interested in seeing the “strong features of this population”, as a visitor noted at the time.

To know more: Trachtenbild von Stans

Trachtenbild of Gabriel Figy und Elsbeth Conrad von Glarus – V. S.

Josef Reinhard, Trachtenbild, Gabriel Figy und Elsbeth Conrad von Glarus, um 1800, Öl auf Leinwand, 71 x 59.2 cm, Kunstmuseum Luzern.

The Trachtenbild of Gabriel Figy und Elsbeth Conrad von Glarus, is also part of the second cycle of Trachten which Joseph Reinhard painted around 1800 in Lucerne. Trachten were becoming a highly demanded image type in Switzerland at the time and by the 1850s were exported all around Europe. The cycle counts around 46 oil paintings measuring around 70 x 60 cm, subdivided by region and usually showing a couple or a family doing specific chores.
Whereas the first cycle of Trachten, which Reinhard painted in the 1790es, the focus of the paintings was more on the almost caricatural bodily and facial features of the couples shown on a neutral background, the style of the second cycle draws more from typical elements of genre-paining to conceive an idea of Swiss peasantry. On the Trachtenbild of Gabriel Figy and Elsbeth Conrad von Glarus the latter is shown as she is probably handing out the Schabziger cheese under the delighted gaze of who seems to be the customer. The Schabziger cheese and the blackboards depicted here were typical products from the canton of Glarus. In this sense the image links a region, Glarus, and its people in a picture of idealized peasantry, where people seem to live in harmony with their environment and their animals in what seems to be a pre-capitalistic setting of goods-exchange.

In reality though, the painting was made in a time when ideas about peasantry were part of an intellectual discourse of 18th century industrialization and agrarian reforms which were quite common in European debates. Also in Switzerland, especially in the economic centers of Bern and Zurich, economic and patriotic societies were founded in which ideas on how to increase agrarian outputs were discussed. The image production of this time and the invention of the Trachtenbild along with it can thus be read as a sort of aesthetic compensation or as a propagandistic instrument to spread ideals of a simple life of the good peasant. The images representing peasants were seldom (or never) self-representations of the peasant population itself but usually commissioned by scholars form the main cities, who more often than not were part of an economic elite. The picture-cycles were usually exposed in their homes and attracted other scholars or even tourists, who were interested in seeing the “strong features of this population”, as a visitor noted at the time.

To know more: Trachtenbild of Gabriel Figy und Elsbeth Conrad von Glarus

The Staubbach in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, 1804 – Patricia Simon

Franz Niklaus König (1765-1832), The Staubbach in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, 1804, oil on canvas, 136,2 x 108 cm, deposited by the Bernische Kunstgesellschaft, since 1878, gift of the heirs of Mrs. Sulzberger-König, Frauenfeld, Kunstmuseum Bern, Inventory Nr. G 0281.

During the early development of tourism, the Bernese artist Franz Niklaus König (1765-1832) painted The Staubbach in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, a waterfall located in the Bernese Oberland. The Staubbach falls belong to the highest free falling waterfalls in Europe and are one of the most popular tourist destinations in Switzerland. For three centuries, tourists have been travelling to the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the painting illustrating this specific theme dates back to the early period of travellers visiting the Oberland. Especially waterfalls were a great tourist attraction and a common subject recorded in hundreds of paintings.

The early travellers of the Bernese Oberland play a central role in König’s life, as for several years they formed the main target group, for whom he produced his art. The artist moved from Bern to Interlaken, where his atelier became the cultural centre of the region. He resided there for eleven years and earned his money by selling small format landscape views to tourists. Franz Niklaus König is considered to be a pioneer in the early development of tourism in the Oberland, as he was a tour guide and had published an early guidebook.

This artwork from 1804 stands out in Königs oeuvre as there is no evidence that it has ever been sold to a traveller. The painting was exhibited in the fist art and industrial exhibition ever organized in Bern, which took place in the same year. He exhibited a total of nine works in this show, including this specific oil painting. While today it is regarded as one of his main artworks, the painting was not well received by the public during the artist’s lifetime

Although this depiction can be integrated into the traditional veduta representation of the Swiss artists working at that time, this painting is different. It stands out for its size and function: it is much larger than the average artwork by König. Therefore the question arose why would König, in need of a regular income, make a monumental oil painting, whose temporal expenditure was much greater than a small format paper work? And why did he choose to paint a landscape with this particular waterfall as its subject, when the work was not sold to a traveller of the Oberland but exhibited in the city? An early museum concept in the city of Bern can provide the answer.

To know more: The Staubbach in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, 1804

Celebration of Alpine Herders in Unspunnen on August 17, 1808, 1808/09 – P. S.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842), Celebration of alpine herders in Unspunnen on August 17, 1808, 1808/09, Oil on canvas, 84 x 114 cm, Deposited by the Swiss Confederation,
Federal Office of Culture, The Gottfried Keller Foundation, since 1910
Kunstmuseum Bern, Inventory Nr. G 0843.

In summer 1808, the French portrait painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun travelled to Switzerland to study the Swiss landscape. During this time the artist attended the second celebration of the Alpine herders in Unspunnen, which then became the subject of said oil painting. This event in the Bernese Oberland was founded in 1805 and still exists to this day, now better known as the Unspunnenfest. One of the main reasons for organising this festival was the noticeable decline of the customs and practices of the alpine . During the festivities, competitions were held for various activities, such as stone put, Swiss wrestling and playing of the alphorn. This staging of the alpine population was also intended to attract an international audience to the mountains. The first celebration in 1805 was a great success, thus leading to it being organised for a second time in 1808, and later illustrated by Vigée Le Brun in this painting. The object has a unique status in her oeuvre, as it is considered to be Vigée Le Brun’s most ambitious realisation of a landscape painting in oil.

In the painting one can find the aforementioned activities, people dressed in traditional costumes and also the artist herself. Vigée Le Brun has portrayed herself in the foreground of the scene, sitting in the grassland and making pastel drawings. In her published memoirs she has written about the event and the competitions even mentioning this very oil painting. Nevertheless, the authorship was considered unclear for a long time. Today the painting is credited to her, but the method of how the attribution was made is unsatisfying, even problematic. During decades, it was stated that different Swiss artists made the painting. After the painting could not be attributed to any Swiss painters due to incorrect depictions of the mountains and certain other elements, Vigée Le Brun’s authorship was accepted – as a last option. The attempt to find a Swiss artist as originator can be explained by the fact that the representation was considered to have great cultural and historical value for Switzerland.

In connection with the celebration Vigée Le Brun made a second painting – a self-portrait from 1809 – which the artist gave to one of the initiators of the celebration, the Bernese painter Franz Niklaus König. Through the comparison of the two paintings within Vigée Le Brun’s oeuvre, the problem of the doubted authorship can be solved.

To know more: Celebration of Alpine Herders in Unspunnen on August 17, 1808, 1808/09

The Pendule au Nègre of the Historical Museum Bern –  Daniel Vifian

Louis-Martin Froidevaux and unknown French bronze caster, Pendule au Nègre, ca. 1805, gilded bronze, 36 cm high. Bern Historical Museum, Switzerland. Provenance: Graffenried family, possibly from the Burgistein Castle, Bern.

The figure clock at the Bern Historical Museum belongs to the so-called pendule au nègre’s production of the late eighteenth century. The clock itself, wrapped in acotton bundle’s representation, is loaded on the back of a hard-working young black peasant, potentially slave, archetypically represented with garish fleshy red lips and those round and always amazed eyes. He is in a walking attitude and wears nothing more than a pair of pants and a hat, while holdingin one hand a letter to be delivered and in the other hand a sugar-cane serving as walking stick. His laborious nature could be inspired by literary characters such as Domingo from Bernardin Saint-Pierre’s Paul and Virginia novel of 1787, meaning the clock’s figure was thought as a bon nègre.

Colonialist violence is not explicitly surrounding the figure, despite some details pointing to the larger economic-political context of the time. Its pedestal emphasizes the lack of this environment through its decorative motifs. A monkey playing on a rope over a mirror-composition of palms is flanked on both sides by the same representation of an antithetic couple of birds presumably eating from woven baskets with bows. They are offering both a geographical and an imagined context. The sugar cane specifies the scenography as the Caribbean islands; the status as the French colonies and its sugar industry; and the historical contingency as the development of the slave insurgencies and the debates around their freedom.

The figure clock was donated by Marie Juliette Graffenried-Favarger in 1963. While the figure was made in Paris in Empire style (1803-1821), the clock was manufactured in the city of Bern. The dial’s clock has the “Froidevaux à Berne” signature, which stands for Louis-Martin Froidevaux (1766-1813), resident in Bern. Working since 1793, the clock was surely made after 1801, when he received a watchmaker’s patent on September 7. And since the donor’s family was from Neuchâtel, and since her husband’s parents were second cousins, the clock was probably bought by her husband’s grandfather Carl Emanuel von Graffenried (1762-1842). The clock’s original environment could have been then one of the interiors of the Bernese Burgistein Castle, in possession of the Graffenried family from 1714/15 until today. Built in the 13th century, the castle passed through a complete renovation in a late Renaissance style around 1570; and by the end of the eighteenth century, some rooms were renewed with a plain décor, approaching to the prevailing fashions.

To know more: The Pendule au Nègre of the Historical Museum Bern

The Hans Rudolf Rahn‘s Figure Clock of the National Museum Zurich – D. V.

Hans Fend’s workshop and unknown German watchmaker and carver, Figure clock with a Moor, 1646, Wood, silver, silk, 66 cm high. National Museum Zurich, Switzerland. Provenance:Present to Hans Rudolf Rahn in Baden; Zurich Rahn family.

The Hans Rudolf Rahn’s figure clock was probably given in depositum to the National Museum Zurich around the year 1913. It consists of a wooden stand-up figure identified as a Moor, dressed as a soldier with bow, arrows, and a silver shield, over a secrétaire that serves as pedestal. Sometimes containing the clock’s mechanism, the Rahn’s pedestal was thought to be for a personal use, because it was provided with two drawers associated both with the secrecy and the private writing act. What especially attracts the attention is the fact that the Rahn’sclock is an automaton. The pronounced white eyeballs move from side to side with the mechanism every second, and the prognathic mouth opens and closes according to the change of every hour. The clock on the chest and the automaton’s mechanism were made in Augsburg. Its mechanism is hidden inside the torso, not just to be protected, but to maintain the mystery of the synchronized motion between the clocks hand and the head intact.      

Made of silk, its garments correspond to a Roman armor, with laced sandals and straps on shoulders and skirt. But where the armor is supposed to let the skin be shown, in the arms and legs, the clock’s figure is covered by a thin white filigree, that avoids the figurative carving’s problems and gives a luxurious material appearance to the composition. Decorated with gilded embroidered flower motifs all over, the costume with its central “feather” panache’s representation in the crown, places the figure in an exotic land. Nevertheless, the origin of this image must be found related to the European heraldry. The clock’s sculpture duplicates the Moor represented in the Rahn’s coat of arms. When in 1646 the burgomaster Hans Rudolf Rahn was prescribed to go to the baths of Baden for a natural healing, the tradition demanded to honor him with presents (Badengeschenk) as loyalty signs, which generally consisted in victuals and gold for the journey given the long distance to be traveled. There, Hans Rudolfreceived the automaton and took it with him, but he surely ordered to leave his coat of arms in form of a painting glass (Wappenfensterscheibe) as a sign of his physical presence. The figure clock as a present for his return to Zurich is a companion in the journey, both as a luxury good and as a material symbol of authority.

To know more: The Hans Rudolf Rahn‘s Figure Clock of the National Museum Zurich

Figure of a Turk – Milena von Schulthess

Figure of a Turk, ca. 1780, Soft Porcelain, painted, 15,6 x 8,2 x 6,7 cm, Porcelain manufactory Kilchberg-Schooren, Inv. Nr. HA-3, Nationalmuseum Zurich.

Around 1780, the Kilchberg-Schooren porcelain manufactory near Zurich produced a porcelain figure depicting a Turkish comedian, which can be traced back to the Commedia dell’Arte that was a theatre form in the 18th century. The object was purchased by Heinrich Angst (1847-1922) who bequeathed his entire porcelain collection to the museum in 1903.

It consists of white, painted porcelain and is about 16.5 cm large. The man depicted is wearing a red coat, which is open to the front. With his right hand he throws the hem of the coat away to the right side, the left one rests on his hip. His body is slightly turned to the left with his left leg protruding. This gives the appearance of a dancing movement. The garment that he wears under his coat is light blue and golden. Protruding buttons hold the top together over the length of his upper body. At hip level, there is a yellow scarf tied to a knot on the left side. His shoes as well as the turban on his head are painted in the same yellow tone. The turban is decorated with a flower-like bud in the same red as the coat. His face appears reddish and below the jaw a dark red line is visible framing the man’s face. It can be assumed that it is a mask. He wears a mustache and his hair is grey. The colours are probably not original anymore and have changed over the years due to aging.

The comedian figure of the Kilchberg-Schooren Manufaktur is thus a depicted theatrical figure. This is interesting in context of the loss of approval of the Commedia dell’ Arte around 1780, the question arises why exactly at the time during the Enlightenment in Switzerland, such a figure was made. The figurative depiction of the Oriental was not about critically dealing with the subject, but rather about reproducing the lightness and playfulness of the actor depicted without any significant moral reason. What seems controversial to our eyes today is the fact that the portrayal of a Turk or Oriental actually could have a deeper meaning and should be treated anything but superficial. Even in the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire was still strong and had even conquered the city of Vienna in 1683. There are comparable art works by Jean Baptiste Van Mour and Jean-Etienne Liotard that depict Turkish or Oriental men, or in the second case European men in Oriental dresses. Therefore, the playfulness and the multiplicity of these depictions shed light on a growing fascination for Turkey, also stimulated by the multiple and sometimes violent encounters between East and West.

To know more: Figure of a Turk

Menschenhandel – M. S.

Unidentified artist(s), Menschenhandel, ca. 1775, porcelain, painted, 18,7 x 15,5 x 13,5 cm, Porcelain manufactory Kilchberg-Schooren, Inv. Nr. HA-74, Nationalmuseum Zurich.

Around 1775, the Kilchberg-Schooren porcelain manufactory in Zurich produced the porcelain figure the Menschenhandel. It depicts three people on a pedestal. By their clothing, as well as by their skin color, their different geographical and cultural backgrounds can be determined. The group is composed in such a way that two of the men face the third, whereby only two seem to address each other. The European facing the Arabic man wears a typical nobleman costume of that time. Based on the tights, the collar and the hat, one can assume that it is a Spaniard. The Arabic man wears pump trousers, a loosely wrapped coat, a full beard and an Oriental cap. The third figure stands somewhat apart from the other two men, on the side of the Arab, and is depicted as a black-skinned young man. In contrast with the other two he wears no clothes and his hands, as well as his feet are caught in chains. All three persons are placed on a pedestal, which is represented as a stone ground, perhaps situated on the seaside due to the presence of tiny shells. An exchange of money takes place between the European and the Arab, in which the European handing over the money. This constellation of merchants and goods gives rise to the assumption that this scene is a barter trade.

In 1903, the figure Menschenhandel was given to the Museum by Heinrich Angst, first director of the National Museum Zurich. Yet no more description of the object was made until 2012 what seems paradoxical, due to the intriguing dimension of this piece. It can therefore be assumed that the scholarly literature is still not clear about the historical and political relevance of this porcelain figure.

Indeed, the object raises the question of how the delicate material of porcelain is related to such a brutal act as the slave trade and also for what purpose such an ambiguous work of art was produced, bought and finally exhibited. On the one hand, the literature points out that some Swiss people had active participation in the slave trade. Yet on the other hand it was produced at the time of the emerging counter-movement against slavery. Therefore, the object can also be seen in the context of the Abolition movement, which spread to Europe from the second half of the 18th century. The exact meaning of the group of figures remains unknown and the assumption that the production was carried out with a positive view of the slave trade cannot be excluded.

To know more: Menschenhandel

Swiss Coconut Tankard – Annina Pandiani

Unidentified artist(s), Coconut tankard, 17th/18th century, Polished coconut shell, engraved silver, h: 17.4cm, d: 8.4 cm, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Inv. 5197.

The object is a coconut tankard currently stored at the depot of the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva. It is composed of an elongated coconut cut into two pieces and mounted in engraved silver. While the lower part of the coconut serves as the actual cavity of the tankard, the upper part, where it was originally connected to the tree, constitutes the lid of the tankard. Due to its handle, the object can be classified as drinking vessel, even though its actual usage as such is to be doubted. It is much more likely that tankards like this one served in the first place as objects of representation and therefore were displayed in one of the rooms of the house where visitors were received, as decorative tableware or even in a cabinet of curiosities. The point to be made is however, that possessing this coconut tankard was far more important than using it at the table to drink out of it. The exotic appeal of coconuts from a Western point of view plays an important role in this regard. There is an inherent tension to the mounting of the coconut in silver of embracing and incorporating the foreign object in terms of Swiss material culture. From a post-colonial point of view objects as this one are the material manifestation of the unbalanced power relations of the West and the rest of the world, pre-dominant during colonial times and lasting until today.

Maybe the most important detail of the tankard is the coat of arms on its front, linked to the dating as well as to the story of possession of the object. In 1903 the coconut tankard was given to the museum by Anna Sarasin, the granddaughter of Jean-Jacques Rigaud (1785 – 1854), who himself was a Swiss collector. According to the museum’s documentary of the object, it can be linked to the Sirs of Littow, who are to be related to the village of Littau in the canton of Lucerne. It is therefore believed that the coconut tankard was made in the canton of Lucerne, probably in the city of Lucerne. A wooden branch is depicted in the coat of arms, which might be connected to the Swiss family names of Stocker, Stockert or Stöckli. Furthermore telling from the formal characteristics of the coat of arms the tankard can be dated to the 17th or 18th century. In conclusion it could be assumed that the coconut tankard was given to the descendants of the Sirs of Littow by the family or a member of the family of Stocker, Stockert or Stöckli respectively.

To know more: Swiss Coconut Tankard

Exclusive Tin – A.P.

Unidentified artist(s), Coconut tankard, 17th century, Polished coconut shell, tin, h: 17 cm, Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern, Inv. 5684.

This coconut tankard is made of a round, bulbous coconut mounted in tin. The tin forms the foot it stands on, three barrettes holding the coconut, the handle and the lid. The tin is kept in simple forms, the only ornamental details being fine lines following the shape of the mounting, a small apex on top of the lid and a scroll work like hilt attached to the connection between handle and lid to open the tankard. Engraved on the front of the lid are three capital letters “MEF”. According to the renowned Swiss scholar in the field of Swiss gold- and silversmith’s art Dora Fanny Rittmeyer there existed a habit in Switzerland from Renaissance times to engrave the letters “MGH” on state-owned tableware meaning “Meiner gnädigen Herren” (“to my merciful lords”). So, I suggest considering the letters “MEF” to bear a similar meaning apart from the obvious possibility of the letters being initials. The coconut tankard is owned by the Bernisches Historisches Museum and was bought by the museum in 1906. It is roughly dated to the 17th century. Reading the above mentioned scroll work like hilt as part of late Renaissance ornamentals I would support this dating or even suggest to widen it to include the 16th century.

What makes this object noteworthy is that the coconut is mounted in tin and not in gilded silver or silver as most objects of this kind made of coconut are. A possible approach is to see the object as an imitation of the more precious coconut objects mounted in silver that were popular among the upper class of the time. Meanwhile tankards with a tin mounting but a cavity made of glass or ceramics were extremely popular in the 17th century, as scholars have shown. The popularity of tin and tankards of the period of time the object is dated to can explain the existence of the coconut tankard as a more special version of the tankards of the time. In any case the tankard proves that foreign goods such as coconuts did not exclusively circulate among the upper class, but also among lower classes of society. It is clear that someone possessing such a tankard, even if it is made of tin, certainly was not poor, but still the object is an example of how notions of wealth and exclusiveness transcend social classes and how habits of incorporation and exoticism thereby are adapted by a broader group of society.

To know more: Exclusive Tin

Feather Helmet – Angela Meyer

Unidentified artist(s), Feather Helmet (Mahiole), Hawaii, 18th century, 22 x 14 cm, plant fiber, feathers, Bern Historical Museum, Inv. 1791.531.0002.

The extensive collection of the Historical Museum Bern reflects the history of Bern, including its connection to the world. The one object in question here is a Hawaiian feather helmet, also known as “Mahiole”. The helmet displays a crest, spanning the whole head from front to back. Its body is adorned with red feathers and a smaller amount of yellow feathers on said crest. The feathers stem from two native Hawaiian birds, which were of great value due to their rarity. The bird from which the yellow feathers stem from has even gone extinct since. The scaffolding of the helmet is constructed with a netting of two plants native to Hawaii, which were important not only because of their physical durability, but also their link to the Hawaiian gods. Every strata of society was involved in the making of the object, starting with the gathering of the different components, the consecutive assemblage and finally the blessing. The helmet is not a solitary object, but is bound together with a feather cloak. Both of them were markers of prestige and identification of the upper class, as well as physical protection in altercations among the different island tribes. 

The voyages of James Cook have contributed significantly to the proclaimed scientific ethnographic research in the 18th century. During the third of these trips (1776-1780) the ships landed in Hawaii, where multiple objects were acquired. The exchange of goods with the native Islanders is particularly interesting due to the role Cook played. The objects in question, the assemblage of feather helmet and feather cloak, play a major role in the intercultural negotiation and giving of presents. The time of the ship’s arrival coincided with the ritual calendar, which led the Hawaiians to believe that Captain Cook was their god of fertility. Like this he was able to collect objects of great symbolic weight in Hawaiian culture, such as the feather helmet. Only later, when the sailors returned, the disruptive nature of the intruders becomes evident and they were being denied their place in the closely-knit network of Hawaiian society. Despite the encounter ending with Captain Cook’s death on his return to Hawaii, the feather helmet was brought back to Europe by John Webber, the Bernese painter in charge of the illustration of the arduous journey. As part of his estate, the feather helmet was donated to the Historical Museum Bern in 1791, where it is currently on display in the permanent exhibition. 

To know more: Feather Helmet

Feather Cloak – A.M.

Unidentified artist(s), Feather Cloak (Ahu’Ula), Hawaii, 18th century, 182 x 150 cm, plant fiber, feathers, Bern Historical Museum, Inv. 1791.531.0001.

The Hawaiian feather cloak in the local collection of the Historical Museum Bern is one of a kind and differs from many other cloaks, which can be found around Europe. The cloak, traditionally referred to as „Ahu‘ula“, was an object of great importance in the heavily stratified Hawaiian society. The cloak is composed of a woven net of two native Hawaiian plants in which the feathers, red and yellow, of two rare native birds are embedded. The feathers are assimilated in a way that they display triangular patterns across the surface of the cloak. The different strata of Hawaiian society are brought together in the making of the feathery goods, such as the cloak, as well as other accompanying objects such as the feather helmet (see Mahiole). The piece functions as object of prestige and marker of identification for the chiefs, the highest class in Hawaiian society. Furthermore, the netting was quite durable and served physical protection during times of war. The piece preserved in Bern is different, in as much that it has been altered. The netting structure displays traces of alterations, where the cloak has been either mended or maybe even adjusted to a different wearer who was of greater height than the previous owner.  

During the third of James Cook‘s trips for the Crown (1776-1780), the Bernese painter John Webber accompanied him to underline the captain’s accounts with his visual works, such as drawings, watercolors, and so on. The ships landed in Hawaii in January 1778, where multiple ethnographic objects were acquired. Captain Cook assigned a clear value to objects, which he received as special gift during festivities. Webber even created etchings of the moment where Captain James Cook received the feathered works upon his arrival. The feather cloaks were acquired in a pompous exchange, to then later be distributed among some of the crewmembers. One of the cloaks was attributed to Webber and then travelled all the way back to Bern. After having been brought to Berne by the painter, about 100 of the goods he collected during his travels as painter of Captain Cook were donated to the Historical Museum of Berne, and they remain the property of the museum. The cloak itself was donated in the year 1791, the exact circumstances of this donation are still unclear up until this day, this being before John Webber passed away two years later in 1793. 

To know more: Feather Cloak

Katana – Renato Moser

Japan, katana with sheath, undated, 89 x 4 cm, Bern, Historical Museum Bern. Personal sketch by Renato Moser, 2018, due to lacking high-resolution imagery.

One of the Katanas the Bernisch Historisches Museum owns is said to be part of the donation Albrecht Herport’s in 1697. However, a closer study of this object and its provenance is telling several different stories and we are still looking for the missing link to bring them all together. Among other discoveries, it seems it was never part of Herport’s donation which is listed in the Donation Book in the Burger Bibliothek Bern.

Albrecht Herpot spent nine years abroad with the Dutch East India Company fighting in South East Asia to guarantee trade. Thirty years after his return he made this donation. Of the several objects in the donation the majority were objects of nature like a big leaf from an exotic tree, a dried flying fish of the fruit of a sago palm. Beside those objects his travel report, some drawings and sketches were part of the donation as well as a Kriss, an Indonesian Dagger) and “eine sinesische Soldaten Sebel, a sword of a Chinese soldier. What he really meant by this expression is unknown. whether he referred to the previous owner od to a standardized part of a soldier’s armor is not known. And as there is no accurate description, nor sketch of the object, there is no evidence that the katana is the sword of the donation. Furthermore, Herport was an excellent observer with keen interest in weapons. In his drawings he characterizes in detail the weapons of different origins and he would have known the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese sword.  

The katana is not comparable with the highly decorated, precious pieces usually found in museums, it’s a rather simple 84 cm long sword, probably meant for export only. The blade is in a rather poor condition. It was sharpened several times and referring to the curator of low quality. The cut of a blade serves as a hint for the period it was made in. In this case it is difficult as this cut was used in different times. The usually highly decorated parts like MenikuFuchiKashiri and Tsuba are kept rather simple in this piece. However, several parts of it are missing. Two of them were needed to fix the blade to the handle. Asking Dr. Loveday from University Geneva, an expert about this object, she had severe doubts, about the age. Katanas are distinguished by epochs. The Koto are the oldest and most precious ones. The Shinto are “new swords” made in 16th to 18th century. The newes ones are called “shin-shinto” made in the 19th and 20th century. According to the expert this katana might be a “shin-shinto”.  

Up to this point, the katana is opening far more questions than it answers. To get closer to the story of the object, every single part of it must be analyzed individually and the results put together   

Chinese Handroll and Bamboo-Box – R. M.

Chinese Handroll, 17th century, 26 x 520 cm, colour on paper, Bern, Historical Museum Bern.
Bamboo pipe with lid, China, undated, 30,5 x 6 cm, Bamboo, carved, Bern, Historical Museum Bern.
Personal sketch by Renato Moser, 2018, due to lacking high-resolution imagery.

In the collection of the Bernisches Historisches Museum is a long Chinese paper handroll with scenes in a garden around a palace where women spending their day. The index cards suggest that an engraved bamboo-box with a tree and two travelers on it was used as container for the handroll.  

The handroll was supposedly made by a painter whose work was strongly influenced by Qui Ying, one of the best painters of his time. The fashion and the hair style of the women in the picture, as well as the style of the picture itself, refer to the period and the artist. Several distinctive scenes in a garden, show women spending their day with playing board games, having a conversation or enjoying themselves on a boat on a lake. As an outstanding piece of art, this handroll should have been mentioned in the donation book as well as in other references that mention the Cabinet of Wonders. 

Similarly outstanding is its container, a 30,5 cm high and 6 cm in diameter bamboo box. However, neither here hints of its past can be found. And lacking comparable pieces, it is to figure out, when and where it was made.  

Both objects are said to be part of a donation which camto the Burgerliche Sammlung in the Burgerbibliothek Bern in 1697. The mentioned donator, the Bernese Burger Albrecht Herport, spent nine years in South East Asia. From 1659 to 1668 he fought as a soldier for the Dutch East India Company. During this time, he wrote a travel report, describing the live abroad, the battles and the nature, but leaving out arts and crafts. Back in Bern in 1697, he made the donation, from where the index cards originate. However, in the donation book, where all donations are written down, neither the handroll nor the bamboo box are mentioned. Serious doubts about there objects being part of the original donation are justified. Before solving the question about the origin of the objects, the answer of the donator and the time when it was donated must be found. The story of the objects is not told by a single stopover but by every station of their journey to the museum.    

To know more: Chinese Handroll and Bamboo

Kaufladen-Miniature: An Educational Tool for Trade Processes and Social Representation – Laura Grubenmann

Unknown artist(s), toy of the family Zellweger in Trogen (Kt. Appenzell Ausserrhoden), probably produced in the Region of Appenzell, 1770-1790, wood construct, painted and diverse material, 44 x 70 x 47 cm, Inv.Nr.1916.210, Historical Museum Basel.

The object in question is Kaufladen, respectively a Spezereien and Tuchladen in miniature size. It is a toy for children. The shop contains raw materials, colonial goods and textiles. The shop comes from Trogen, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. It belonged to the Zellweger family from Trogen in the canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden in east Switzerland. ThZellweger Family was a family of merchants who played a significant role in the textile trade of the late 18th and early 19th century.1 Presumably the Kaufladen was commissioned by Jakob Zellweger-Wetter (1723-1808) as a gift for his sons in the vicinity of Trogen. 

The German word “Laden” refers to the foldable wooden panels, which are used for the roof of the store, which can be open or completely closed as well. The shop is specialized in two different sales. On the right side colonial goods are sold, such as hemp, different kinds of tobacco, paper and spices like sugar and cinnamon. On the left side various textile materials such as silk and cotton cloths and silk ribbons are sold. The shop itself as well as the original shop items are from the second half oft the 18th century.  Over the years in which the shop was used as a toy, but also much later, from 1916 on when the shop was donated to the historical museum in Basel, new content items were constantly added to the shop, such as the doll. 

On the one hand the play shop from Trogen was a representation of prestige and status of the Zellweger family.  It shows the different goods that the family traded with over the years. The shop takes up the concept of the colonial shop which was run by Zellweger companies until 1774, at the end and highpoint of the Zellweger era. The commercial activity does not only took place in the region of St. Gallen but also in Genoa and Lyon. On the other hand the Spezerei “ was used as tool to train prospective merchants by testing the abstraction of trade in a simple but still realistic form.2 As a childZellweger family members learned how to earn their living as merchants in a playful way. They learned to recognise textiles by their material and colour proprieties and became familiar with the value of the various luxury items that could be bought and sold at that time. 

To know more: Kaufladen-Miniature: An Educational Tool for Trade Processes and Social Representation

Miniature-Kramladen, an Object of Change – L. G.

Unknown artist(s), Kramladen as toy of the family Hochreutiner in St. Gallen (Kt. St. Gallen), probably produced in the region of St.Gallen, 1787, wood construct, painted and diverse materials, 24 x 31 x 25 cm., Historical and Ethnographic Museum St. Gallen.

The miniature object Kramladen, from the Children’s Museum of the Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum St. Gallen, is a fragile object painted in bright blue and red-orange. It was made in 1787, as the dating on the objects frontside shows. The miniature of the toy shop belonged to the Hochreutiner family from St. Gallen. The tin objects in the shop depict ready-prepared dishes. They seem to come from a butcher’s or baker’s miniature shop. The rest of the inventory, the wood balls, sponges and paper bags, the furnishings and the cases are reminiscents of a toy shop version of a SpezereiThe Spezerei was also called a colonial goods store and later a drugstore. Such shops dealt with special, often imported goodsThe miniature shop toy was therefore originally a spice shop or a colonial goods shop. At the end of the 18th century it was one of the most popular models offered by toy manufacturers.1 While the ownership of a Spezerei refers to a bourgeois family of traders, the sale of food from butcher and baker shops are rather a representation of local crafts.  

Therefore, the discussed object is a mixture of two different depictions of shops. Over time, common models of the Spezerei miniature shop were transformed from its owners into objects that represented the own handcraft-business. Miniature representations of products could be bought from toy manufacturers but were also often produced in private handcraft. The process of industrialization at the beginning of the 19th century and the resulting change of the individual within the society may have been the reason for such redesigned shopsThis formal  change of the object brought a change in the position of craft trades in society and flowed into the education of children. The children were animated to discover a fascination for the craft trade, in contrast to the Spezerei which was supposed to convey the commercial profession of members of the elite society. 

To know more: Miniature-Kramladen, an Object of Change

Demonstrierkabinett Pharmacy Museum Basel – Oona Baumann

Demonstrierkabinett, height 35cm, width 29 cm, 17th Century, Inventory number O344, Pharmacy Museum Basel.

 The so-called „Drug collection“(Drogensammlung), „Demonstrierkabinett“ or also known as a materia medica cabinet, is like a little chamber of curiosities. It contains collected material samples from animate and inanimate nature. Its name is also telling. In scientific language, in which the word „drug“ means dried parts of plants, fungi, animals or microorganisms that are used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. The term originates from the Dutch language, in which the adjective “droog” means dry. Therefore, the object is both the little collection and the container fabricated to preserve it and show the dried samples. 

The cabinet dates back to the 17th century and was probably produced in Basel. With its 35 centimeters in height and 29 centimetres in width, this little two-door cabinet is made out of walnut wood and stands on four knobbed feet. Six drawers are marked with Latin group names from the materia medica. The individual drawers are divided into 64 numbered compartments in which the objects are placed. Each drawer lid carries its corresponding table of content. There were overall 358 simplica, most of whom are still available. Simplica is the raw material the compound drugs (composita) are made of. In addition to the six drawers, there was a seventh one, which contained a notepad listing all the trivia of a drawer lid. 

When purchasing drugs pharmacists used the cabinet as a comparison tool for distinguishing between similar looking herbs causing different effects. In addition the cabinets were also used for educational purposes in the 18th/19th century. Certain simplica had to be replaced over the years as they withered and faded. A box full of memories of the pharmacy’s history and the value of the collection. 

The objects’ origin remains unidentified. The museum’s founder, Josef Anton Häfliger, was an eager collector. Since the pharmacies’ chattels were all handmade by artisan craft workers they were passed on to the museum. Therefore the cabinet could have been made by a carpenter or found by Häfliger on his travels in the Netherlands after which it was filled with partly exotic resins, spices and herbs in Basel. 

To know more: Demonstrierkabinett Pharmacy Museum Basel

Mumia vera aegyptica Pharmacy Museum Basel – O. B.

Mumia vera aegyptica, glass vessel containing mummy powder, placed on a wooden pedestal, inventory number O344, Pharmacy Museum Basel.

The object entitled Mumia vera aegyptia from the Pharmacy Museum of Basel is a glass vessel containing mummy powder. It is placed on a wooden pedestal labelled as mumia vera aegyptia. It is said that it was a gift from Dr. Ernst Katz in 1925 who was in charge of the “ Hohlbein Pharmacy“ for 50 years. The glass container serves only for exhibition purposes. The inscription „mumia vera 1925“ can be found on the bottom of the vessel and was inscribed by Prof. Dr. J. A. Häfliger. 

As he was an eager collector, Josef Anton Häfliger was the founder of the Pharmacy Museum of Basel. Glass vessels were not suitable for the pharmacy because they could break too easily. The drugs were often stored in drug cans made of beech wood turned into containers with lids. Mumia vera was a special human medicinal drug. The „real“ mummies were imported from Egypt, usually not in the form of intact, embalmed corpses, but rather as small pieces or powder. The word “mum” was translated from Persian into Arabic and originally meant wax as well as bitumen or asphalt (“earth wax”). The Arabs transferred this designation to the embalmed bodies they found in Egypt. Egyptian mummies have been an export hit for the European market since the 16th century. Mumia vera (often with the addition aegyptica) was available in every pharmacy as an official medicinal drug. It was intended as a drug to stop bleeding and reduce fever, but was also in demand as an aphrodisiac. In particular the wound healing powers were praised, even for bruises and fractures, cough, sore throat, dizziness and headaches. Later, mumia served as a universal agent and was applied to almost everything as one of many ingredients. Certainly there had been forgeries in the trade with mummies. Some mummy traders are said to have prepared and sold fresh corpses as antique mummies. The end of the medicinal drug mumia came with the medicinal progress made in the era of Enlightment. The pharmacies occasionally still ran mumia for healing practices and veterinarians until it completely disappeared in the 20th century. Mumia was also used for technical purposes, to produce glaze paint used for oil paintings.

To know more: Mumia vera aegyptica Pharmacy Museum Basel

Kunstkamera Zurich – Michelle Brändle

A contemporary picture from the Kunstkamera in Zurich. Copper engraving. The “Neujahrsblatt” from the Burgerbibliothek showed it in 1688 on the rooftop of the waterchurch. ZBZ, Graphic collection.

Collected things have a story to tell: they open up a whole new world and a fascination for the things themselves. Furthermore, museums have a history in themselves. When has this all started and for what reason? Of course, we will not find an exact point of time or even a building where it has begun. But there are institutions and collections from time before the museum of today existed.

One important moment in the Swiss history of collecting is the Kunstkamera of Zurich, Switzerland. A Kunstkamera is the very beginning of today’s museums and so the one in Zurich is the first in the whole country of Switzerland, at the time still a heterogeneous agglomeration of cities and connected territories. The first model of such a Kamera is from duke Jean Duc de Berry (1340-1416) in 1356, and many Kunstkamera took this one as a role model.[1] The definition of such a place is not that easy, but there are a few points all such Kameras have in common. The main point is to show everything of the Kunstkamera in public and of course to have a lot of different interesting things to show at all. As in Zurich with its crocodile or human skin there were many curiosities in all Kunstkameras. That is why they had to find a way to keep all these things in a reasonable order. An important head in Zurich was the man who kept this order written down: Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672-1733). He studied medicine, botanic, mathematics, astronomy and degreed in the Netherlands.[2] He wrote almost the whole inventory in a book, even with the people who gave all these things to the library as presents. This book is the so-called Donatorenbuch. It is an illustrated script where every present is written down, that came into the library and whom from. So, many people one can find in this book including his status and the family emblem are names from rich familys around Zurich, who bought prestige and functions with their ‘presents’.

In the 19. Century, when the Kunstkamera had to move, everything came to the present central library. So together the Kunstkamera and the library were Zurich’s very first museum

To know more: Kunstkammer

Chinese Book – M. B.

The Chinese peacock box and the little book from Sishu kaobei from Zhang Pu. Conrad Pestalozzi gave it to the Central Library of Zurich in 1660. On the bottom of the box, there is the hand drawn emblem from the Pestalozzi family. ZB Ms. Or. 54.

A library often has so many books that a few might get lost in the mix. Some of them have an interesting background, which is not visible on first sight. An example of such is the little Chinese book preserved in the Central Library of Zurich. The book was given to the library in a handmade paper box by Conrad Pestalozzi (1618–1661). Pestalozzi was a tradesman who moved to Amsterdam. He gave this little book to the library for prestige reasons. Because the Pestalozzi Family moved to Amsterdam and for a Swiss Family, it was important to keep their influence even when they were not in town. So it was well-established to give your home city something of great value.

The book comes from the Ming dynasty. It is a printed copy and it includes a commentary of chapter nine and ten of the philosophical writings of Mencius (372–289 b.c.). The prints are made by woodblock printing, a technique typical for Chinese printing history. Second, the box itself has a peacock drawn in different colors as decoration on top. Inside the box is a drawing of the family emblem of the Pestalozzi family and the exact same illustration is found inside the book itself. This emblem is drawn as a sign that the book was a present from a member of the Pestalozzi family to the library. The box does not seem to be made as a depository for a book. It’s difficult to prove that, but one couldn’t find another combination of a book and a box like that one. It also would make sense, the book just needed something not to get broken during its long journey. Whatever use the box originally had it makes the book appear to be more valuable.

His second present was a colored copy of Martino Martinis China-Atlas. In the Donationenbuch, written by XXX, there is more about that present: It is a „sinesische Schachtel, darinnen ein sinesisch geschrybenes Buch von selbigem Papier“ (a Sinesian box, within a Sinesian written book out of the same paper). The book is said to come from far away from Switzerland but also far away from the Netherlands where Pestalozzi lived that time. Tradesmen from the Netherlands travelled a lot to Asia and somehow the little book found its way to Pestalozzi. It is not clear if he brought the book on his own or if there were intermediaries. A possible person involved might be Martino Martini, whom he got the China Atlas from. Martini was in China and on his way back to Rome, he came to the Netherlands at the same time Pestalozzi had been there. So, there is a big chance they met each other and exchanged some gifts like the little book.

To know more: Chinabuch

The Foreign and the Local: Hybrid Characters Emerging – Anna Baumer

Unknown Artist [between 1782 and 1788], The Swiss Colonel Antoine Polier is entertained, probably after a painting of Johan Zoffany, India, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad or Lakhnau, watercolour on paper, 30.8 cm x 34.3 cm, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Inv. 2005.83.

The so-called nawab was a Western foreigner as well as an Indian local. With the Swiss Colonel Antoine Louis-Henri Polier (1741-1795), portrayed in the watercolour of an unknown artist between 1782 and 1788, The Swiss Colonel Antoine Polier is entertained, the painting in various ways exemplifies the conflicting character of the nawab and its influence on Indian art.

The watercolour displays the Swiss Colonel Antoine Louis-Henri Polier (1741-1795) in an Indian Mughal nobleman’s manner, watching a dance performed by three Indian women in the setting of an Indian pavilion. The space between Polier and the dancing women opens up to a garden landscape with a fountain gushing within the arrangement. The Lausanne-born Polier is portrayed with a moustache and is wearing white and yellow gold Mughal style clothing. He is lounging on the floor, sitting on some cushions placed on a rug. His gaze is fixed upon the woman dancing right in front of him. The painting shows the European having adapted an Indian noblemen’s way of life. Polier thereby was able to underline his new status in India and the gentility he had gained through his social investments in collecting and patronizing Indian miniature paintings. The watercolour therefore serves as a tool for self-fashioning, showing the European savant Polier in a Mughal nobleman’s place, indulging in a Mughal nobleman’s activities: attending a Nautch, an Indian type of dance.

The watercolour is located at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich. The museum acquisitioned the painting in 2005 from the auction house Christie’s, London. Before that, the watercolour belonged to the collection of William and Mildred Archer, art historians and writers, who themselves had lived in India from 1932-1946. In relation to Polier’s letters, one can assume that the watercolour was inspired by a lost oil painting of Johan Zoffany in northern India around 1785.

Stylistic characteristics of the painting can be found in European and Indian painting tradition as well: perspective, composition, use of shadows, three dimensional modelling remind of European art, while the architectural frame, the fine brushwork and gold-coloured elements and content recall Indian miniature painting. The hybridity of the painting’s characteristics resemble Polier’s character: being a Western foreigner as well as an Indian local, is mirrored in the ambivalent character of his portrait. Western and Indian stylistic elements are combined, and from this mix a new style with its own features emerges.

To know more: The Foreign and the Local: Hybrid Characters Emerging

Collecting Manuscripts in Late 18th Century India – A.B.

Unknown Author [c. 1760] Burmese Manuscript, engraved palm-leaf, palm-leaf string, 49.5 cm x 4.5 cm, Cantonal and University Library Lausanne.

Objects like the manuscript, that nowadays can be found in Switzerland, at the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne (BCU Lausanne), show the involvement of Swiss actors in colonies that were controlled by their European neighbours. Like many young Swiss men, Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741-1795) served in the military for and in different countries. These people, like Polier himself, were often active as brokers, or ‘go-betweens’. As middlemen they played an important role in the colonies by inserting themselves between the colonial authorities and the colonized.

For a long time the manuscript was believed to be written in the Malabar script and language, an Indian language spoken at the Southern West Coast of India. During my research I was able to discover that the manuscript was indeed written in the Burmese script, and the writing’s language is bilingual: Burmese Pali, the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism. The script also contains a Buddhist text about dana and sila, generosity and moral behaviour. Therefore one can presume that the manuscript was produced for a religious context in Burma, today’s Myanmar, probably around 1760.

On the one hand, this assumption leads to further questions regarding the manuscript’s provenance in particular, and in general the question of a possible impact Western colonial activities and Western collector’s activities had on the trade of manuscripts within the regions of South-Asia. Due to Polier’s collecting practice in India, he amassed hundreds of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, Hindustani and Sanskrit. On his way back to Europe, he, like many other military men, brought the remains from his life abroad to Switzerland. He left it to the former Academy of Lausanne, which not only contained a library, but also a Kunstkabinett, a chamber of curiosities were foreign material culture was displayed. Probably one of those objects was this particular manuscript that became the possession of the BCU Lausanne, into which the Academy later was converted.

On the other hand, Asian manuscripts (the notion Asian often being synonymous for exotic in the literature of the time) were well known to the European population and not exotic, in the sense of unknown, at all. In the countries of colonial power they were collected for their quality of being a political source of knowledge regarding the subject of their desire and in order to use this knowledge to master the unknown foreign and exotic. But concerning Polier, being a middleman between colonial authority and colonized population, I would like to argue, that at least for him, because of very personal reasons, collecting a Buddhist manuscript served (also) a different purpose: religious curiosity. It seems like Polier, coming from a protestant family with a marked affinity for Hebrew, living in an Islamic society in India and being instructed by a Sikh in Hinduism, was passionate to extend his religious knowledge towards another direction.

To know more: Collecting Manuscripts in Late 18th Century India

Members of the First Russian Circumnavigation Make Paintings – Giuliana Rosaria Di Biase

Johann Caspar Horner, 1805, watercolor, 37 x 53,9 cm, © Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich, Inv.-Nr. 820.01.012.

The watercolor representing the port of Nagasaki belongs to Johann Caspar Horner, the Zurich-born man who sailed the circumnavigation by the Tsar Alexander I. as an astronomer. The expedition taking place from 1803 to 1806   and under the command of Adam Johann von KrusensternThe watercolor dates back to 1805, when one of the ships of the first Russian circumnavigation, called Nadeshda, spent 6 months in said location to establish diplomatic and economic relations with Japan. The singular but usual practice among the lieutenants to make paintings of the visited locations explains the reason why today we have several watercolors representing similar subjects. The painting was probably an illustration project for the Kruserstern Atlas and it is now kept in the Völkerkundemuseum of Zurich in the so called ‘Horner Collection’.  

The port of Nagasaki could be considered as a strategic place for the foreign ships. The Russian ship on the left is flanked by the Chinese Junker in the background. Between the Japanese fishing boats, a man wearing a kimono is sailing on a small wooden boat. On the left, apart from the Dutch factory Deshima, the typical Japanese house called ‘machiya’ stands out. The fact that only half of both Nadeshda and the house are visible suggests that this watercolor had been cut. The presence of the Russian ship in the watercolor allows us understand that Horner was not on board when he painted it, but ashore, where he also had to take care of measuring the width and lenght of Nagasaki. Although controlled by the Japanese guards, the permission to access to the port arrived only a few weeks later than their arrival, right when they had to repair their ship destroyed by a storm.  

This watercolor could be compared to the watercolor belonging to Fedor von Romberg, another member of Nadeshda, where apart from the representation of the port and the full view of the Russian ship there is also the following capture in French “Vue de la Prade de Nagasaki, la Faitorie hollandaise sur l’isle Dezima; et les officiers qui montent la garde avec les soldats et le cheval de parade”. Here the Japanese house on the right appears hidden by trees and this could be evidence that many circumnavigators used to paint the same subject also from different points of view. Unlike the painting of Romberg, though, that of the Swiss astronomer has no caption and no signature, which leaves open his attribution. 

To know more: Members of the First Russian Circumnavigation Make Paintings

Nuku Hiva: The Only discovery of the First Russian Circumnavigation – G. D. B.

Johann Caspar Horner, Taiohae. 1804, gouache and watercolor on paper, © Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich, Inv.-Nr. 820.02.006.

Taiohae, one of the biggest bays of the Island of Nuku Hiva, is the subject of the watercolor painted by Johann Caspar Horner. This location was the only discovery of the first Russian circumnavigation, organised by the Tsar Alexander I under the command of Adam Johann von Krusenstern from 1803 to 1806. Hornerthe astronomer who accompanied the expedition, painted Taiohae in 1804, when the Russian ship spent 10-12 days in Nuku HivaThe watercolor was probably an illustration project for the Krusenstern Atlas. Horner’s paintings were not published on his return from the circumnavigation and after his death they were donated to various associations in Zurich. Today this watercolor is kept in the so called Horner Collection in the lkerkundemuseum in Zurich.  

The bay of Taiohae is painted in all its green vegetation. Its inhabitants, wearing only some pieces of cloths round the waistcalled tschiabu for the men and teuweu for the woman, have the horned-coiffure, similar to the Chinese hairstyle. Their common practice of tattooing the whole body could explain why their white skin looks like brownish in this watercolour. Beyond that, the influence of the sunny climate is another valid explanation for the colour of their skin. In the painting a group of men is heading towards the shore and another group on the right is trying to reach the foreign ships, approaching the Island, with a canoe. On the left side of the river there is a man who is gathering coconuts from a palm tree. He is located next to the house owed by Kiatonui, the island’s king, which was built on a stone platform.  

The members of the expedition had the permission to go ashore only in watering or woodcutting parties. Considering the perspective of the watercolor it could have been made when Horner was measuring the water pressure and the lengths of the island ashoreWhile the painting of the Swiss astronomer is viewed from the shore, a watercolor belonging to wenstern, another member of Nadeshda, shows the Island from the sea. Drawings and sketches circulated between the members of the expedition and this is the reason why the genealogy of the pictures should usually be reconsidered. The fact that Horner did not sign this work may be the reason for discussions that lead to redirect the belonging of this watercolour.  

To know more: Nuku Hiva: The Only discovery of the First Russian Circumnavigation