Charles King (sculptor)

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Charles King (* around 1657 in England ; † 1756 in Berlin ) was the court sculptor of the Prussian King Friedrich I.

Appointment to Berlin

The Prussian King Friedrich I called the Englishman Charles King to Berlin as court sculptor in 1703 and granted him a salary of 400 Reichstalers . Apparently, King was supposed to be involved in the interior design of the Lietzenburg Palace (later called "Charlottenburg"), which was used by Queen Sophie Charlotte . The richly gilded altar table in the chapel in Charlottenburg Palace was made by him. The oak carvings in the old gallery of the castle were probably also made by Charles King. King was also used to design the castle in Oranienburg . His altar table created for the Oranienburg Palace Chapel is now in the Kreuzkirche Königs Wusterhausen . His very neat work in wood, especially bas-reliefs as well as fruits and flowers , was generally appreciated. King claimed to know a secret recipe that could make lead as hard as other metals. As Nicolai reports, King had various lead statues cast according to this recipe.

Altar table by Charles King for Oranienburg Castle (approx. 1710), today the Kreuzkirche Königs Wusterhausen

The sons Carl Friedrich and Philipp King

Charles King had two sons, Carl Friedrich and Philipp, who also lived in Berlin. His son Carl Friedrich was apprenticed to the Prussian-royal court painter Antoine Pesne and learned the art of painting. He developed into a “good portrait painter” and later went to Halle , where he died in 1738, around 30 years old. His brother Philipp also became a painter. King Friedrich Wilhelm offered him a pension. However, as a result of his "dissolute way of life", he is said to have fallen into poverty and died at the age of 40 in Berlin's Charité Hospital .

Old age death

The sculptor Charles King died in Berlin in 1756 “almost over 100 years old”.

literature

  • Karl Heinrich von Heinecken: News from artists and art things. Volume 1. Verlag Johann Paul Krauss, Vienna 1768.
  • Karl Heinrich von Heinecken: News from artists and art things. Volume 2. Verlag Johann Paul Krauss, Vienna 1769.
  • Friedrich Nicolai: News from the builders, sculptors, copper engravers, painters, plasterers and other artists ... Berlin and Stettin 1786.
  • Rudolf G. Scharmann: Charlottenburg Palace. Royal Prussia in Berlin. Prestel-Verlag, Munich et al., 4th edition 2010.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinecken, Vol. 1, 1768, pp. 56f.
  2. ↑ Scharmann, p. 18.
  3. ↑ Scharmann, p. 14.
  4. ^ Nicolai, Nachrichten, p. 94
  5. ↑ Heinecken, Vol. 1, p. 57
  6. ↑ Heinecken, Vol. 1, p. 56.
personal data
SURNAME King, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES King, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English sculptor, court sculptor in Prussia
DATE OF BIRTH around 1657
PLACE OF BIRTH England
DATE OF DEATH 1756
Place of death Berlin