Turners of the Early Modern Period in Bavaria

Bavaria (Southern Germany)

• William IV, Duke of Bavaria (1493-1550) – William IV was known to have created artistic turned works which were housed in a special room equipped as a turning chamber in the Neuveste, a castle erected in 1385 in what was then the northeastern corner of Munich.
• Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (1528-1579) – A conically tuned goblet with a lid bearing the coat-of-arms of Albert V made around 1570 may have been made by the Duke himself. His son William also learned turning.
• Giovanni Ambrogio Maggiore (1550?-1598?) – Maggiore was an Italian turner who traveled to Bavaria in 1574 and stayed in Munich and Landshut for long periods on at least four occasions. He taught William V at the lathe and it is likely that he also trained William's son Maximilian at the lathe. In 1573, Maggiore had turned oval ivory frames for William V and maintained that he had invented this technique. He had also turned hollow spheres by 1582. One example, dated 1588, is preserved at the Museo degli Argenti in Florence. Maggiore passed on the oval frame turning technique to his pupils including Georg Wecker as early as 1576. He also worked with his brother, Dionigi Maggiore, in making lathes. Little is known of the later life of Maggiore. From Milan, he thanked William for a gift in 1593, and in 1595 Paolo Morigi praised him as a successful Milanese artist. He also worked in Florence and Rome. In 1597, Grand Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici recommended Maggiore, where he was still working on commissions for the Medici court in Florence in 1598.
• Georg Burrer – Active from 1597 to 1627 in Stuttgart, a covered cup atop a hollow sphere dated 1616 is preserved in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. Another work of his remains at the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia.
• William V, Duke of Bavaria (1548-1626) – William V, the son of Albert V, ruled from 1579. On New Year's Day 1575, Prince William presented his sister in Graz with one of the first examples of artistic turning; a small oval ivory box with portraits in tapestry of two of the Prince's children (dated 1576). He was also known to create hollow spheres. In 1582 William sent to the Medici in Florence a "Kontrafetkugel" (a turned series of nested ivory balls similar to Chinese balls) perhaps made by Giovanni Maggiore.
• Maximilian I, Elector and Duke of Bavaria (1573-1651) – Maximilian I, the son of William V, ruled in Bavaria as Duke from 1597 and then as Elector from 1623. He achieved a high standard of turning, as his numerous signed vessels show. His many vessels were exhibited in the art chamber (now the mint building), and later were transferred to a new gallery near the Duke's apartments. Maximilian's turned objects were mentioned in a section of their own in the inventory, as oval pieces of ivory and ebony turned vessels by His Highness, the Elector. In 1608, an engraving on a candlestick translates to "Art ennobles ivory; the creator (of this vessel), Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, on the other hand, ennobles art."
• Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (1636-1679) – Maximilian's son, Ferdinand Maria, began training at the lathe at eight years old. Ten years later, he became Elector from 1651 onwards. A covered bowl made by Ferdinand Maria in 1655 still survives.
• Friedrich Kleinert (1633-1714) – Kleinert was a turner and artist who came to Nuremberg in 1664 and was recognized for his work by 1668. He wrote a hymn to turning in 1683 with words carved into the front of a lathe, "The pursuit of such is to please nobility's fancy" as if to prove that the turning of ivory was a noble pastime. Unfortunately, he lost his fortune in poor investments and died impoverished in Nuremberg.
• Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (1662-1726) – Ferdinand Maria's son, Max Emanuel, began turning at 17 years old. The many pieces he created were destroyed during a fire at his Munich residence in 1729. Some of his lathes still survive, including a rose engine made by François Houard in 1712.
• Charles VII Albert, Holy Roman Emperor (1697-1745) – Charles VII took over government after his father's death in 1726. None of his turned objects have survived. Charles encouraged his son Prince Maximilian to pursue turning.
• Elector Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (1727-1777) – Maximillian III commissioned a portrait of himself at the rose engine in 1765. A vessel made by him dated 1770 also survives.
• Otto of Bavaria (1848-1916) – Otto was son of King Ludwig I and later King of Greece. A lathe dated 1829 which belonged to him is currently located in Bamberg, Germany.
• Archduke Otto Franz of Austria (1865-1906) – Otto Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Maria, Prince Imperial and Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia received Holtzapffel lathe No. 2219 as a gift from Queen Victoria of England in 1886. The lathe cost the Queen £160 and has the distinction of being one fo the most complete ornamental turning outfits in existence, including a compound spherical sliderest and geometric chuck.

Sources for information in this section