At Møllenborg there is a white cast of the cannon Prøven. The object connects Johan Frederik Classen, Frederiksværk, Danish cannon production, eighteenth-century industrial policy and later commemorative culture.
Johan Frederik Classen is born.
Classen and Fabritius take over the works at the outlet of Lake Arresø.
The proof firing takes place.
Classen dies; the commemorative culture takes shape thereafter.
According to its provenance, the cast is found beneath the floor at Amaliegade 40.
Prøven was cast at Frederiksværk at a time when Johan Frederik Classen linked the navy’s cannon production to the area’s ironworks and powder mills. The cannon therefore belongs to the story of Danish industrial history, state weapons production and Frederiksværk’s role in the eighteenth century.
The story is presented with a distinction between documented facts, probable connections and information based on transmitted provenance.
Prøven is the name of a cannon whose purpose was to test the works’ ability to cast heavy ordnance. The cast at Møllenborg reproduces the cannon in white and makes it possible to study its form, barrel and inscriptions at close range.
Under Frederik V, the works at the outlet of Lake Arresø were developed into a unified industrial area. Classen took over the operation together with Fabritius and made Frederiksværk a centre of Danish weapons and powder production.
In 1759, the proof firing took place at Københavns Gjethus. It concerned more than the technical quality of the cannon itself. It also formed part of the question of who could supply heavy ordnance to the state, and how Denmark should organise its own cannon production.
The proof firing took the form of a competition in which Classen competed against Hornhaver. The outcome should be seen in the context of Frederik V, Frederiksværk and the state’s wish for stronger Danish cannon production. It was a technical trial, but also part of a larger economic and political project.
After Classen’s death in 1792, his heir Peter Hersleb Classen shaped a deliberate commemorative culture around his achievements — monuments and objects intended to preserve his legacy.
The monument at Vinderød forms part of Classen’s legacy. The white cast has been linked to this monument — a connection that is elaborated below and should be stated with reservation.
According to the transmitted provenance, the white cast was found around 2015 in a box beneath the floor at Amaliegade 40 in Copenhagen during a renovation. The find was made by a carpenter, who later sold the object on DBA. It was then bought by Jan Kramer in Frederiksværk, and from there it came to Møllenborg. The carpenter did not wish to assist with a closer investigation of the find history, and this part of the story is therefore presented with reservation.
The cast may be a working model connected to the monument at Vinderød. If this interpretation is correct, it is not merely a later copy, but a model that served a practical function in the making of the monument. This connection should be stated with reservation.
Today, the cast forms part of the collections at Møllenborg. It connects a private trail of provenance with a larger story about Frederiksværk, Classen, Danish cannon production and eighteenth-century commemorative culture.
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