Johann Gottfried Kiel

Johann Gottfried Kiel (baptized 25. October 1716 in grains ; buried 11. November 1791 ) was faience - Painters in Fayencen- factory Abtsbessingen in Ebeleben in Thuringia . About a third of all traditional Abtsbessinger faiences have his signature .

Life

Johann Gottfried Kiel was the son of the line weaver Johann Georg Kiel. Nothing is known about his youth and education. On August 13, 1740 he married Ilsa Sophia Becker from Fischbeck near Hameln .

The first signature that can be attributed to him with certainty comes from the year 1747. The factory existed as early as 1740. It is not known when Kiel started its work there. It is unclear whether Kiel was a trained painter or whether his talents allowed him to become a faience painter.

While the other painters only worked in Abtsbessingen for a few years, Kiel stayed until the end of the manufacture around 1790 . In 1770 production came to a partial standstill because the princely family had not extended the lease agreements and some of the buildings were demolished.

At the end of 1769 the position of cantor in Abtsbessingen became vacant. Since Johann Gottfried Kiel was well versed in singing, the Bible, reading and writing, he was given the position of cantor - against the objection of the congregation, which found his voice too soft.

Abtsbessinger faience can be found in around twenty museums, most of them in the Anger Museum in Erfurt , the Sondershausen Castle Museum and the Arnstadt Castle Museum .

Archival material

• Church book of the municipality of Körner 1678–1755

literature

• Hendrik Bärnighausen: Documents with biographical content from the environment of the Abtsbessinger Fayencenmanufaktur , Sondershauser contributions, Schloßmuseum Sondershausen Issue 4, 1998, pp. 6-10
• Bettina Bärnighausen, Hendrik Bärnighausen: Abtsbessinger Fayencen (= contributions to the Schwarzburg art and cultural history, volume 5). Thuringian State Museum Heidecksburg, Rudolstadt 1997, ISBN 3-910013-20-1