Early googling only produces links to Klepper having seen the mask, and referencing it in Der Vater, so my guess is that like Monbijou in its enterity, it was a WWII loss. Now what I'm curious about: did SD keep the mask there on display in her life time, or did it end up in Monbijou only afterwards along with other period stuff?
What is on display in palaces today doesn't signal what was kept there in the relevant period, either. In Rheinsberg they specifically tell you that none of the Heinrich portraits were there in his era, as he didn't like paintings of himself to be around, but they have copies now to honor him. (And making up for the time where his decades there were overlooked in favor of Fritz' four years, I suppose.) (Otoh, the busts and paintings of Heinrich's boyfriends which were there, and which Fontane mentions in his own visit write up, were nowhere to be seen when I was around!) Similarly, in Sanssouci in Fritz' study/bedroom, even leaving aside the classical refurnishing, you have SD's and FW's portraits which were definitely not around in Fritz' time. (As opposed to the MT and Barbarina portraits which were and which now are no longer. :) ) Anyway, all of which I'm rambling on just to say: Klepper seeing the FW death mask in Monbijou in the mid 1930s doesn't mean it was kept there in the 18th century. Monbijou was simply the FW era palace still open and cared for in the mid 30s, as opposed to the completely locked up and neglected Schönhausen (much to Klepper's disgruntlement), and while Wusterhausen was still open to visits upon request, it had no furniture from FW's time at all when Klepper was there (as opposed to today, when they've been careful to restore it as well as possible to how it looked in the FW era).
Around 1820, the so-called "Germanic-Slavic Antiquities" were removed from the royal curiosities cabinet (Kunstkammer) and housed in Monbijou Palace as the Museum for National Antiquities (Museum für Vaterländische Alterthümer). As the collections regularly expanded with the addition of new categories (paintings, jewelry, porcelain), the German emperor Wilhelm I finally made the palace with its 42 rooms accessible to the public as the "Hohenzollern Museum" in 1877. It was considered to be on the one hand an educational institution of cultural history, and on the other hand a place for the Hohenzollern dynasty to celebrate its own history and significance.
So I'm going to guess that that's when the death mask appeared. This image shows the floorplan, and room 35 is FW, so that's probably when and where his death mask got added.
As to its survival...open question!
World War II brought this state of affairs to an end. Large parts of the collections had been evacuated, and after the war were looted and brought to the Soviet Union and other places.
I really just want someone to have taken a picture, before it disappeared or was destroyed. I've seen pictures of lots of things that haven't survived! So far Google is failing me, though. Though that may be my fault, due to lack of time.
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timeasmymeasure
FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-17 11:47 pm (UTC)I did not know or had forgotten that a death mask was made of FW! Was it removed before the bombing, do you know? Or does a picture survive?
Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-18 07:11 am (UTC)What is on display in palaces today doesn't signal what was kept there in the relevant period, either. In Rheinsberg they specifically tell you that none of the Heinrich portraits were there in his era, as he didn't like paintings of himself to be around, but they have copies now to honor him. (And making up for the time where his decades there were overlooked in favor of Fritz' four years, I suppose.) (Otoh, the busts and paintings of Heinrich's boyfriends which were there, and which Fontane mentions in his own visit write up, were nowhere to be seen when I was around!) Similarly, in Sanssouci in Fritz' study/bedroom, even leaving aside the classical refurnishing, you have SD's and FW's portraits which were definitely not around in Fritz' time. (As opposed to the MT and Barbarina portraits which were and which now are no longer. :) ) Anyway, all of which I'm rambling on just to say: Klepper seeing the FW death mask in Monbijou in the mid 1930s doesn't mean it was kept there in the 18th century. Monbijou was simply the FW era palace still open and cared for in the mid 30s, as opposed to the completely locked up and neglected Schönhausen (much to Klepper's disgruntlement), and while Wusterhausen was still open to visits upon request, it had no furniture from FW's time at all when Klepper was there (as opposed to today, when they've been careful to restore it as well as possible to how it looked in the FW era).
Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-18 01:20 pm (UTC)Around 1820, the so-called "Germanic-Slavic Antiquities" were removed from the royal curiosities cabinet (Kunstkammer) and housed in Monbijou Palace as the Museum for National Antiquities (Museum für Vaterländische Alterthümer). As the collections regularly expanded with the addition of new categories (paintings, jewelry, porcelain), the German emperor Wilhelm I finally made the palace with its 42 rooms accessible to the public as the "Hohenzollern Museum" in 1877. It was considered to be on the one hand an educational institution of cultural history, and on the other hand a place for the Hohenzollern dynasty to celebrate its own history and significance.
So I'm going to guess that that's when the death mask appeared. This image shows the floorplan, and room 35 is FW, so that's probably when and where his death mask got added.
As to its survival...open question!
World War II brought this state of affairs to an end. Large parts of the collections had been evacuated, and after the war were looted and brought to the Soviet Union and other places.
I really just want someone to have taken a picture, before it disappeared or was destroyed. I've seen pictures of lots of things that haven't survived! So far Google is failing me, though. Though that may be my fault, due to lack of time.
Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-18 04:29 pm (UTC)... man, that took some research. I found a couple other books that had it, but none of them with a google books preview. Archive.org FTW.
Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-18 04:30 pm (UTC)Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-18 04:33 pm (UTC)Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-21 12:09 am (UTC)Re: FW death mask
Date: 2021-02-21 12:12 am (UTC)