Mathäus Funk

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Mathäus Funk, portrait by John Webber (1770).
Mathäus Funk, Louis XV chest of drawers (around 1765).
Mathäus Funk, Troiscorps Louis XV

Mathäus Funk (baptized April 18, 1697 in Murten ; † September 24, 1783 in Bern ; citizen of Nidau ) was a Swiss cabinet maker .

Life

Funk was the eldest son of Johann Lorenz Funk, a mail forwarder from Frankfurt am Main , and Anna Margaritha, née Sergant. After completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, Funk learned his cabinet- making art on a long journey and practiced it in Frankfurt am Main and Paris . On November 23, 1724, the Burgerkammer of Bern allowed the “skillful cabinet maker and gilder” to take up residence in Bern as Hintersasse. Funk had been married to Maria Magdalena Wäber since 1725. From 1734 he lived in the municipal commercial building . In 1757 he got the residence status of a Habitanten and was protected by the authorities against attacks by other craftsmen several times. His son Daniel Funk became a watchmaker and from 1753 worked in his father's workshop. After the death of his wife, his sister Rosina Wäber, sister of the sculptor Abraham Wäber who emigrated to England, ran the household in Bern . His son John Webber , who later became James Cook's expedition painter , spent his childhood with his aunt in the Funk house. Webber's visit to Bern (around 1790) brought some of his collectibles from the South Pacific to the local collection. In 1780 Funk handed it over to his master craftsman Christian August Müller from Dresden.

plant

In 1764 five journeymen from Germany and Sweden worked in his workshop. Funk often worked with his brother Johann Friedrich . Clients were private and companies from Swiss cities and u. a. the Württemberg court, from 1745 also the council of Bern.

The so-called classic radio chest of drawers, curved and bulged at the front and sides, is a piece of furniture that enjoyed great popularity in the Bernese territory . Funk usually lined his furniture with Herrnhuter paste paper . This indicates a relationship with the workshop of the famous ebony artist Abraham Roentgen , who was a member of the Moravian Brethren.

The most important and most extensive collection of the works of Mathäus Funk and his brother Johann Friedrich Funk (I.) is now in Jegenstorf Castle . Other important collections can be found in the Historisches Museum Bern , in La Sarraz Castle and Wildegg Castle .

literature

  • Anne-Marie Dubler : Funk, Mathäus. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Hermann von Fischer-Stettler: Funk, Mathäus. In: Sikart
  • Hermann von Fischer : Fonck a Berne. Furniture and equipment from the Funk family of craftsmen in Bern in the 18th century. 2nd Edition. Stämpfli, Bern 2002, ISBN 3-7272-9115-X .
  • Manuel Kehrli, Monika Bürger: Bernese writing furniture of the 18th century. (Catalog for the exhibition). Jegenstorf Castle Foundation, Jegenstorf 2008.
  • Manuel Kehrli: Furniture and interior fittings of the society house . In: The Society House of Middle Lions in the 20th Century , Bern 2015, pp. 98–103.
  • Manuel Kehrli: late championship? The Bernese cabinet maker Mathäus Funk and his masterpiece . In: Art and Architecture in Switzerland, No. 1 (2017) pp. 54–60. doi : 10.5169 / seals-685789
  • Manuel Mayer: The realization of a piece of furniture. The writing secretary of Abraham Roentgen in the residence in Würzburg , in: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Kunst und Geschichte , Vol. 70, Archives of the Historical Association for Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, Vol. 141, Würzburg 2018, pp. 239-259. ISBN 978-3-88778-555-0

Web links

Commons : Mathäus Funk  - collection of images, videos and audio files