Iver Windfeldt Buch

Danish-Norwegian jeweller, goldsmith, silversmith. Hallmark: BUCH in a rectangle. Born and baptised in the district of Strømsø in the Norwegian town of Drammen (1749) in the family of Danish goldsmith Didrich Didrichsen Buch (1706–1771) and Anna Nielsdatter Windfeldt (1714–1794). Studied under his father in Norway (early 1760s) and trained as a silversmith in Sweden (late 1760s). Moved to St Petersburg (1770), where he joined the guild of foreign masters (1776). Married Dorothea Zeteln (1749–1804), who gave birth to sons Christian Andreas (1776) and David (died young). Opened a workshop with jewellery dealer Makar Manycharov (1780s), which he later ran independently with six apprentices (from 1790). Made goldware, silverware and jewellery in the Neoclassical style (1780s–90s). Bought a house at 11 Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street and two dachas on Apothecary Island. Appointed consul for the kingdom of Denmark-Norway in St Petersburg (1787), etatsråd or councillor of state (1800). Worked on imperial commissions for Catherine the Great (1790–95), including gold chalices endowed to the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin and the St Alexander Nevsky Monastery in memory of Prince Grigory Potemkin (1790–91) and a liturgical set endowed to the St Sergius Monastery of the Trinity (1795). Collaborated with Vincenzo Brenna and worked on imperial commissions for Paul I (1796–1801), including silverware and furniture for the Winter Palace (1797) and St Michael’s Castle (1800–01). Suffered from depression after the death of his wife (1804). Travelled abroad with his son (1804–06) and returned to St Petersburg (1806), where he married a rich widow called Baroness Elena von Schwachheim and briefly moved to Moscow on the advice of doctors (1810). Died in St Petersburg and buried at the Volkovo Lutheran Cemetery (1811). Contributed to exhibitions, including Russian Silver of the 18th–20th Centuries from the Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums at the Samara Regional Museum of Art in Samara (2007–08) and Sakrale skatter fra Kreml-museene i Moskva at the Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design in Oslo (2010).