Johann Kilian Benckgraff

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Johann Kilian Benckgraff (* 1708 in Mellrichstadt ; † June 7, 1753 in Fürstenberg ) was a German arcanist .

Life

Benckgraff was initially employed at the faience factory in Künersberg Castle , which Jakob Küner had founded in 1745. In 1747 Benckgraff became factory manager there. In 1749 he went to the Höchst Porcelain Manufactory , which initially produced faience . As a result of Benckgraff's experiments together with the stove maker Josef Ringler, the first porcelain fires were made in Höchst in 1750 .

In 1752 Benckgraff is mentioned as director of the Höchst Porcelain Manufactory, where he held the title of Commercial Councilor . Soon he got into a dispute with Johann Christoph Göltz as the founder of the Höchst Manufactory. At the beginning of April 1753, Benckgraff was arrested and his goods were confiscated. He stated that Göltz had already given him notice in November 1752, so that he had to look for a new job. Benckgraff asked for legal counsel and wanted to convey the arcanum to a " Chymikus " in order to teach him how to make porcelain. Göltz accused him of withholding the model of the furnace made by the carpenter Dantz and of having embezzled part of the production mass. Benckgraf is also said to have negotiated with the Berlin company Johann Georg Wegelin & Sons and sent them a keg of earth, fine can mass and the stolen stove model. He demanded that Benckgraff surrender the arcanum and reimburse the damage incurred from the donations he had received from Wegelin and Braunschweig. The accused stated that his daughter smashed the stove model. Duke Karl I of Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel had offered him a job as a mountain ridge with a salary of 1,200 florins and had given the prospect of setting up a porcelain factory. He had received a gift of 2000 florins from Braunschweig for various arcana. He stated that he had obtained the soil he found from Passau and sent it to Berlin via Regensburg. Benckgraff feared that Göltz would move the manufacture to Frankfurt as soon as he had knowledge of porcelain production. Benckgraff had given the arcanum to the Elector of Mainz under his seal and ceded it. Göltz's action for surrender was dismissed. Benckgraff was released from custody at the request of Duke Karl.

In 1753 Benckgraf left the factory and went to the Fürstenberg porcelain factory , poached by the Brunswick court hunter Johann Georg von Langen . He arrived on May 6, 1753 at the factory in Fürstenberg an der Weser in Brunswick. With him were his son-in-law, the painter Johannes Zeschinger and the Höchst painter and bossier Simon Feilner . When he got there, after six years of unsuccessful experimentation with porcelain production by the alleged arcanist Johann Christoph Glaser in 1753 , the continued existence of the Fürstenberg manufactory founded in 1747 had become questionable. A few weeks after his arrival in Fürstenberg, Benckgraff died after a brief illness. Before his death he had shared the secret of porcelain production with von Langen and had also told his son-in-law Johannes Zeschinger. This meant that porcelain production at the Fürstenberg factory could begin in 1753, after the correct kaolin from Hafnerzell near Passau was available.

Arcanistic work

literature

  • Christian Scherer : The Fürstenberg porcelain. Reimer, Berlin 1909, pp. 7–8 and 28 ( archive.org ).
  • Thomas Kellmann: "The smoking castle" on the Weser. Fürstenberg: Castle - Palace - Manufactory - Museum. A history of construction and use in four acts. In: Lower Saxony Monument Preservation 1993–2000. 2001, Volume 16, pp. 260-289.
  • Beatrix von Wolff Metternich, Manfred Meinz : The porcelain manufactory Fürstenberg. A cultural history in the mirror of Fürstenberg porcelain. Volume 1 (= Braunschweigisches Kunsthandwerk. (BKH), Volume 1.1), Prestel, Munich-Berlin-London-New York 2004, ISBN 3-7913-2921-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ernst Zais: The Kurmanizische porcelain manufactory at Höchst . a contribution to the history of the German arts and crafts. J. Diemer, Mainz 1887, p. 10-16 ( archive.org ).
  2. ^ The German faiences of the 17th and 18th centuries.  - Internet Archive p. 102.
  3. ^ The German faiences of the 17th and 18th centuries.  - Internet Archive p. 43.
  4. ↑ Kurt Röder: Highest porcelain . In: Leo Sternberg (Ed.): Land Nassau. A home book . Friedrich Brandstetter, Leipzig 1927, Chapter 84 ( [1] ).
  5. ↑ Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin on lot-tissimo.com
personal data
SURNAME Benckgraff, Johann Kilian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benckgraf, Johann Kilian; Bengraf, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German arcanist
DATE OF BIRTH 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH Mellrichstadt
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1753
Place of death Fürstenberg (Weser)