Mette Marie Storm (1727-1814)
A beautiful portrait in oil of Mette Marie Storm - perhaps the most appreciated treasure of the family - has been considered disappeared for nearly 100 years. Now, it has emerged on the other side of the globe together with a regular ancestor gallery.
Poul Jacobsen Kinafarer was the oldest son of a copyholder in Svanninge, a small village in the vicinity of the city of Faaborg on the south-western part of Funen in Denmark. He was a self-made man and became one of the richest and influential merchants in Faaborg during the prosperous period in the late 1700s.
Unfortunately, there are no portraits of Poul Kinafarer, but there is one oil portrait of his wife, Mette Marie Hansdatter Storm. The painting was reproduced in articles and books in the early 1900s, and black/white photos are owned by the family and by Faaborg Cultural Historic Museum (www.fkm.nu). But since the early 1900's, no one in Denmark has known what became of this jewel or if it even existed any more.
For some years, I have had an inquiry for the painting on this web site. And suddenly in May 2007, I found a mail in my inbox saying "I believe I have the painting". The mail was from Edward Jacobsen, a descendant of Poul Jacobsen Kinafarer and Mette Marie Storm. I probably don't need to tell you how excited I was?
Edward Jacobsen's family emigrated from Denmark to Canada in the early 1900s, bringing along this painting together with a gallery of other family paintings.
Edward Jacobsen believes that the paintings should now belong to a museum. Naturally, we agree, but which museum?
Faaborg is the city which Poul Kinafarer and Mette Marie Storm has influenced with their merchant courtyard, their trade, ships and culture in a period which was of vital importance for development of the city. Thus, the painting is an important cultural historic treasure for Faaborg. Naturally, Faaborg Cultural Historic Museum agreed to this and the Museum was very excited by the prospect of receiving this jewel.
Edward Jacobsen generously offered to donate the gallery to Faaborg Cultural Historic Museum.
But naturally, the Museum does not have an account for home transport and conservation of 200 years old paintings. And that's where we came in. We simply started a collection among Mette Marie Storm's descendants.
Status of contributions:
Since the start of the project 23 Sep 2007, we have received contributions of 16,700 DKK:
Contributions have been received from the following, all descendants of Poul Kinafarer and Mette Marie Storm: Tove Storm Tuxen, Bo Storm, Søren Bøving-Andersen, Birthe and Niels Højgaard, Annie Cornelia Roberts, Kamma Møller, Lars Storm, Anne Lise Højgaard, Frants Johan Bøving, Kirsten Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Sanja Storm Tuxen, Anders Brandt, Anne Merete Storm Engsøe, Nina Nissen, Margrethe Raffenberg, Hanne and Rasmus Mølgård, Peter Tolderlund, Karen Hirtzel, Erling and Winnie Højgaard, Lars Yllebjerg Højgaard and Signe Olsen, Randi Yllebjerg Højgaard and Thomas Jungmark, Torben Storm-Olsen, Lone Bøving and Lennard Pedersen, Anders Hind, Torvald Biering Fonsbøl, Anne Merete Storm-Olsen, Erik Ingemann, Helle Bøving, Ole Kock, Annette Bøving, Grethe Bøving Andersen, Per Bøving-Andersen, Kirsten Tolderlund and Rolf Petersen, Henrik Bøving, Jette Storm Iversen, Annie Bøving Michaelsen, Ulla Christoffersen, Astrid Storm, Bodil Kock, Birgit le Sage de Fontenay, Aksel Bøving, Karen Bøving, Jette Bøving, Per Kromann Jacobsen, Majken and Lars Mogens Lind, Kjeld Kjøller. A warm thanks to all donors.
The next steps:
Already in mid October 2007 the collection had reached the point at which the transportation would be covered. Edward Jacobsen sent the paintings to the Museum and after a couple of weeks (partly in the Danish customs), the paintings arrived safely at the Museum in early November 2007. The most important milestone of the project was reached successfully.
During Spring of 2008 the painting of Mette Marie Storm was conserved and on 2 May 2008 the Museum opened a new permanent part of its exhibition with the painting of Mette Marie Storm as the central artifact among a number of portraits of contemporary Faaborg citizens, all connected to Poul Kinafarer and Mette Marie Storm by family ties.
The Museum had invited all contributors to the opening of this exhibition and appr. 40 descendants participated in this important event. At the same time we donated a cheque of almost 13,700 DKK from the collection to the museum in order to cover part of the conservation costs.
