Henrik Møller

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Henrik Bertram Møller (born October 11, 1858 in Trondheim ; † May 16, 1937 there ) was a leading representative of the Norwegian gold and silversmith's art . He was a follower of the dragon style ( Dragestil ), a revived Nordic style of handicrafts from the Viking Age that used early medieval motifs. Many of his designs were inspired by the early architecture of Trondheim.

Life

Henrik Møller belonged to the fourth generation of a family of goldsmiths that had settled in Trondheim in 1770. After 18 months at sea, at the age of 14, he began training as a goldsmith in the workshop of his mother, Jacob A. Møller's widow. In the late 1870s, Møller learned chasing from the Danish goldsmith Bernhard Hertz in Copenhagen . At the Royal Danish Academy of Art he studied model making and drawing in the evenings. In 1879 he passed his journeyman's examination in Copenhagen. From here he went to Vienna for further studies and also spent 1½ years in New York before returning to Trondheim in 1884, where he worked as a silversmith, chaser and model maker.

Until the 1930s, Møller's work was shaped by his romantic enthusiasm for the dragon style of the late 19th century. Based on his drawings, he created imaginative works with dragons and other legendary animals inspired by Norse mythology. For Møller, the dragons symbolized the fight against evil.

Henrik Møller and his family's gravestone on Domkirkegården in Trondheim

Møller's work attracted the interest of wealthy clients such as the Duke of Hamilton , Andrew Carnegie , Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and the King Chulalongkorn of Siam . One of his greatest works was a 1 meter high and 20 kg heavy table setting with dragons and motifs from a portal in Hyllestad . The work was acquired in 1897 by Carl Neufeldt from Vienna. Møller's work also includes a jewelry box with a manned Viking ship from 1890 for the banker Frank Cyril Tiarks . In 1934 Møller wrote an autobiographical and illustrated book about the work for his wealthy and aristocratic customers.

In addition to numerous coffee and tea sets, he also produced pieces of jewelry, belts and combs with motifs that were inspired by the appearance of the Trondheim cathedral, Nidaros Cathedral . From 1900 to the First World War he ran the Henrik Møllers Metalvarefabrik in Elgeseter, a district of Trondheim, where up to 50 workers were employed in 1902 and numerous products such as door handles, furniture fittings, chandeliers and ship lamps were manufactured. In 1906 Møller supplied metal ornaments for the then new church in Trondheim's Lademoen district.

Examples of Møllers art can be found in Kunstindustrimuseet of Oslo and Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum of Trondheim.

Henrik Møller held various positions in craft associations and was a member of several commissions. He received the Norwegian King's Medal of Merit in Gold ( Kongens fortjenstmedalje i gull ) in 1922 and became an honorary member of the Norwegian Goldsmiths Association in 1932.

Publications

  • Henrik Bertram Møller: Norwegian Tourist Trade in Silver . Trondheim 1934.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Møller, Henrik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Møller, Henrik Bertram (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian gold and silversmith
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Trondheim
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1937
Place of death Trondheim