Art Trade and Knowledge Transfer – The Dresden Plaster Cast Workshop between 1857 and 1945

• Applicant: Dr. Christian Klose
• Subject Area: Art History ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 536230363

Since antiquity, plaster casts have played a central role in the reproduction of sculptures and their dissemination through copies. Their many uses range from inexpensive substitutes for expensive original works, to serving as models for artists and even as teaching aids in university collections and museums. So far, research has focused almost exclusively on these very collections. Studies on the production and distribution of casts, however, are lacking. This research gap is to be closed using the example of the plaster cast workshop of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The extensive stock of mould indexes, correspondence files, accounting and inventory books makes it possible to reconstruct the history of this institution and to analyse its sales. The period under examination extends from the founding of the plaster cast workshop in 1857 to the year 1945, when the extensive stock of approximately 800 moulds was destroyed during the bombing of Dresden. A restart began in the 1950s and came to a standstill in 1989. In addition to an investigation into the history of the institution, the group of customers of the plaster cast workshop will be reconstructed and analysed on the basis of the evaluation of the documents on the plaster casts sold. Here, a distinction will be made between public collections (museums, universities, art academies) and private customers. How extensive was the Dresden plaster cast workshop able to sell casts internationally, and how did the number and selection of plaster casts sold change during the period under examination? How far did the interests of the clients differ? The research project will furthermore investigate the importance of the Dresden plaster cast workshop for the dissemination of knowledge about the original works of art. This will be analysed using the example of those works of art from the Saxon-Central German region of which the plaster cast workshop sold casts in a sort of monopoly position. These include casts of the Golden Gate of Freiberg Cathedral and the Elector's tombs there, as well as the epitaph of Wiprecht von Groitzsch in the Collegiate Church in Pegau. To which customers were these casts sold and to what extent were they used for educational purposes? Did the plaster cast workshop make a vital contribution to the knowledge of the originals? Part of the project is moreover a catalogue that includes all artworks with relevant object data from which plaster casts were sold during the period under examination. It specifies all public collections that demonstrably acquired casts from the Dresden plaster cast workshop. For these collections, it is also intended to serve as a scientific research tool for provenance research. This study is expected to make a substantial contribution to the research of the distribution of plaster casts and the role of their producers in the dissemination of aesthetic judgement and art historical knowledge.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants