HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joseph Christian Lillie (20 March 1760 – 29 January 1827), also known as J.C. Lillie, was a Danish neoclassical
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...
er. His early career was in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...
, where he is mainly known for his interior designs and furniture production. His later career was in
Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
-
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
, where he is known for his independent architectural works.


Early life and training

Joseph Christian Lillie was born in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
to the master cabinetmaker Georg Friederich Lillie and his wife, Maria Eva Schils. He is presumed to have trained as a
cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...
. He was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Art ca. 1774-1780, and was a student of
Caspar Frederik Harsdorff Caspar Frederik (Friedrich) Harsdorff, also known as C.F. Harsdorff, (26 May 1735 – 24 May 1799) was a Danish neoclassical architect considered to have been the leading Danish architect in the late 18th century. Early life and training ...
, then director of the academy and Denmark's leading architect in the late 18th century and now referred to as “The Father of Danish Classicism”. Lillie won both the academy's "little silver medallion" and the "large silver medallion" in 1775. Later, he won the little gold medallion in 1777, and the large gold medallion in 1779, the same year a fellow architecture student, Christian Frederik Hansen, won a gold medallion. Lillie and Hansen became friends, and Lillie worked closely with him during his career.


Early career in Denmark

Lillie worked as a substitute teacher in the academy's building class 1781-1782, and in 1783 took on a full-time position there as teacher, but never as professor, which meant that he could not become a member of the academy. In early 1784 the cabinetmaking
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
tried to prevent his getting a license to run the family cabinetmaking workshop, which his recently deceased mother had run as a widow after the death of his father. The guild did not recognize him as having guild rights, because he had not received guild recognition for a work submitted for approval. The academy, under Johannes Wiedewelt’s leadership, supported Lillie's request for a trade license as a cabinetmaker in Copenhagen. The Chancellery awarded him all guild rights in 1779 because he had won the academy's large gold medallion. He received his trade license that year, and ran the workshop from 1784 to 1799. That same year, on Harsdorff's recommendation, he was hired by the new director, Carsten Anker, as inspector and designer at The Royal Furniture Storehouse (''Det kongelige Møbelmagasin''), replacing Georg Roentgen from Neuwied. The Storehouse was a national institution with the aim of improving domestic furniture production by creating model production facilities, supporting new master craftsmen, and selling furniture in its own store. He married Rebekka Marie Clausen on 25 June 1784. His talents were also used for the interior design of apartments at
Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Sup ...
. His first large work was the decoration of the suite at the castle for the newly married Princess
Louise Augusta Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway (7 July 1771 – 13 January 1843) was the daughter of the Queen of Denmark-Norway, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, it is widely ac ...
and Christian Friedrich of Augustenborg in 1786. In 1787 he was cited for neglect of duties as a teacher at the academy, and was refused a travel stipend, which should have been his due as recipient of the gold medallion eight years previously. His fellow gold medallion winner that same year and friend C.F. Hansen had also been refused a travel stipend, but was able to travel on account of a direct financial dispensation from Dowager Queen Juliane Marie and King Christian VII. In 1788 Lillie applied for the job of city architect in Copenhagen, but to no avail. He married his second wife Julie Meinier (Meunier) in France. In 1790 Lillie did the interior design for Crown Prince and Regent Frederik’s apartments both at
Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Sup ...
and at Frederiksberg Palace. On 3 November 1790 he was appointed interior designer to the Danish court. He travelled in Norway in 1793. The interior decoration in 1794-1795 of various apartments in Schack's Palace (today commonly referred to as Christian IX's Palace) at Amalienborg, then the home of the Crown Prince and his family, is also attributed to him. The Christiansborg fire of 1794 destroyed much of his work at the castle, although some individual pieces survived.


Later career in Lübeck

Economic conditions were hard for artists at the turn of the 19th century, with shriveling funds from the public coffers due to, among other things, the loss of Christiansborg, the setting up of new residences at Amalienborg, and pending war, which took place in the early 19th century. After a bankruptcy in 1798 he left Copenhagen and Denmark, and moved to
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
, where the second half of his career began. His second wife died on 21 July 1804 in Lübeck. He was resident architect for C.F. Hansen at the establishment of Kastorf and Kramonshagen in Holstein in 1801-1802. Lillie became the director and a professor of architecture, perspective and geometry at the ''Freie Zeichenschule'', Lübeck in 1804. He continued at the school until 1827. He lived with Johanna Catharina Haak starting in 1805. Lillie became Lübeck's chief architect in 1813. He died in Lübeck in 1827 and is buried at St. Jürgen cemetery.


Other works

* Furniture for
Marienlyst Castle Marienlyst Castle (german: Marienlyst Slot) is a palatial residence located in Helsingør, Denmark. It was named after King Frederik V of Denmark's second wife, Juliana Maria, the queen consort of Denmark and Norway. The building formerly se ...
near
Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...
(1791) * The interior decoration for Liselund Palace on the Isle of
Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langebæk, Præstø, and Vordin ...
(1792) is attributed to him * The coffin for
Queen Dowager A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...
Juliane Marie (1796) * Interior design of the main building at Brede in Lyngby-Taarbæk (1797) * Behnhaus in Lübeck, now an art museum including Lillie's interior design (ca. 1800), * ''Linde'sche Villa'' in Lübeck, today the city's wedding registry office. The house and garden are also important in the art of
Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, '' The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the d ...
and later became the domicile of the Munch collector and
patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
Dr.
Max Linde Max Linde (14 June 1862 – 23 April 1940, in Lübeck) was an ophthalmologist who is best known as a patron and art collector of the early 20th century. He was an important patron of the painter Edvard Munch, among others. He had the most ext ...
(1804) * The mausoleum for Hereditary Princess Helene Paulowna,
Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...
(1804–1806) * The first ''Kurhaus'' in
Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes s ...
; there are still some elements of his interior decoration in the subsequent building, which reopened as a hotel in 2005 (1819–1820) * The manor house in Schönfeld near Mühlen Eichsen in
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwer ...
(1820) * The manor house for the von
Bülow family The House of Bülow () is the name of an old German and Danish noble family of Mecklenburg origin, members of which have borne the title of Baron (''Freiherr''), Count (''Graf'') or Prince (''Fürst''). History The family traces its main line ba ...
in Gudow near Mölln (1824–1827)


Further reading

*Ilsabe von Bülow: ''Joseph Christian Lillie (1760-1827)'' (in German) Berlin 2008.


External links


References


KID Kunst Index Danmark ("Art Index Denmark")

Danish Biographical Encyclopedia ("''Dansk biografisk Leksikion''")
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillie, Joseph Christian Danish architects Danish furniture designers 1760 births 1827 deaths Culture in Lübeck Danish neoclassical architects Designers from Copenhagen Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni