The David Collection

The David Collection (Davids Samling) is a museum of fine and applied art in Copenhagen, Denmark, built around the private collections of lawyer, businessman and art collector C. L. David. The building at Kronprinsessegade 30 which houses the museum used to be the private home of the founder and was originally bought in 1810 by his great-grandfather, C. N. David, but sold again in 1830. In 1917 it was re-acquired by C. L. David, who took up residence in it but also made his collection available to the public at the upper floors of the building. Admission is free.

The museum is particularly noted for its collection of Islamic art from the 8th to the 19th century, which is one of the largest in Northern Europe. The museum also holds fine and applied art from Europe in the 18th century and the Danish Golden Age as well as a small collection of Danish early modern art. All the works of art in the collection of Danish early modern art were acquired by C. L. David himself.

From 2006 to 2009 the collection was closed to the public while the premises underwent a major refurbishment and rearrangement. When it reopened on 15 May 2009, it was described as "the most exclusive museum in Denmark" in national Danish newspaper Politiken.

The building, 1806–1917
Following the Copenhagen fire of 1795 the king granted the city a strip of land which had been part of the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. It was on this land that Kronprinsessegade 30 was built in the years 1806–07 together with other houses in the street.

The building was constructed in the prevailing neo-classical style for Captain J. C. Krieger by his brother-in-law, the city surveyor, Jørgen Henrich Rawert. Kronprinsessegade 26–28 were also built by Eawert. The floor plan of the building along with that of the other houses in the street is a characteristic L-shape consisting of three rooms facing the street, the dining room in the corner of each floor — where the front building meets the side building — together with a series of smaller rooms in the latter section. The side building is further extended by means of a side annex of five storeys which originally included the kitchens and servants' quarters.

In 1810, Joseph Nathan David bought the property. He shared his time between his apartment in Kronprinsessegade and his country house Søholm north of the city.

David's tenants included royal historiographer Ove Malling (around 1811).

In the mid-1820s, Engelke Margrethe Colbjørnsen (née Falbe) resided in one of the apartments with two of her daughters. In 1825, she was the first member of the bourgoisie to help a young Hans Christian Andersen.

The royal physician Joachim Diederich Brandis resided in the building from 1831 to 1841. The property was home to at least three households at the 1834 census. Ancher Wilhelm Frederik von Bornemann, president of the Supreme Court, resided on the ground floor with his wife Harriet Bornemann (née Parsons), their daughter Thalie Wilhelmine Carine Bornemann, their son Cosmus Bornemann, two male servants and two maids. Joachim Diederich Brandis resided on the first floor with his wife Jane Brandis født Markoe, their daughters Marie Wilhelmine Brandis and Julie Henriette Brandis, volunteer in the Schleswig-Holstein Chancellery John Meyer Markoe, husjomfru Dore Hæring, three male servants and three maids. A. Pfannemtuhl, a baker, resided in the basement with his wife Elsebet Pfannemtuhl (née Høll), their four-year-old daughter, a clockmaker, two ropemakers, the building's concierge and the concierge's wife.

The civil servant and politician C. A. Bluhme (1794–1866) resided in another apartment in around 1832. The lawyer and politician Orla Lehmann was a resident in the building in the years around 1838.

The writer P. L. Møller (1814–1865) was a resident in 1843-44. The lawyer and politician Hother Hage was also a resident in the building in around 1843.

Anker Vilhelm Frederik von Bornemann, president of the Supreme Court, resided on the ground floor at the 1840 census. He lived there with his wife Harriet von Bornemann født Parsons, one male servant and two maids. Carl Anthon Hyllested, a treasurer at the Kammerkollegium, resided on the second floor with his wife Emma Hyllested født Duritzfelt, their four children (aged 11 to 16), one male servant and two maids.

Stine Petersen, a flour and bread seller, resided in the basement with her daughter Elise Petersen, four lodgers and the concierge Johanna Hansen.

The property was home to 43 residents at the 1845 census. Frants Everloff, Swedish-Norwegian consul-general, resided on the first floor with his wife Nelly Everlofg, their two sons (aged two and four), their relative Mine Meyer, husjomfru Christine Malmløf, a nanny, a male servant, two maids and a coachman. Carl Anthon Hyllested, a justitsråd, resided on the same floor with his wife Emma Abigael Hyllested, their three children (aged 15 to 21), one male servant and two maids. Wilhelm Lerche, a 25-year-old law student, resided on the same floor with one servant, Master of Theology Niels Bertelsen and three other students. Caroline Cecillie Smith, widow of a justitsråd, resided on the ground floor with Marie Ane Raasløff, Raasløff's two-year-old daughter Anna Johanne Caroline Raasløff, a nanny, husjomfru Ida Wilhelmine Frandsen, one male servant and two maids. Jacob Jensen, a concierge, resided in the basement with his wife Anne Cathrine Jensen, a shoemaker and his wife, four soldiers and two workmen.

F. A. Everløff resided in the side wing at the 1850 census. He lived there with his wife, their three children (aged 14 to 18), three unmarried women (aged 20 and 34), two male servants and three maids. Nanna Fabritius de Tengnagel (née Bilsted), widow of Michael Conrad Fabritius de Tengnagel and the owner of Petersgaard at Vordingborg, resided on the first floor of the front wing with her daughters (aged two to 10), her cousins Henriette Rensing and Anine Munthe Morgenstjerne, one male servant and two maids. Karen Christine Roulund, widow of Advocate-General (auditør) and owner of Restrup Manor Rasmus Roulund, resided on the ground floor of the front wing with six of her children (aged 21 to 38), her sister Laura Marie Rasmussen, one male servant and three maids.

The master carpenter Julius Blom bought the building in 1971. He lived in one of the apartments until his death in 1900. The publisher and book printer Carl Berling resided in another apartment in 1862-63. The businessman C. F. Tietgen resided in the building from 1867 until his death in 1901. Blom worked for Tietgen on the completion of Frederick's Church. He created the timber structure of the dome.

C. L. David
In 1917, C. L. David re-acquired the building that had once belonged to his grandfather. He took up residence in it but also made his collection available to the public on the upper floors of the building.

The museum, 1845–present
On 12 December 1945, the collection, along with the building which houses it, became the independent institution the C. L. David Foundation and Collection, and the museum opened in 1948. Over the years, the exhibition space was continuously expanded and rebuilt as the collections grew. In 1960, on the death of its founder, the foundation became the sole heir to his fortune.

In 1986, the foundation acquired the adjacent property, 32 Kronprinsessegade, where the architect Vilhelm Wohlert, also known for the design of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, designed a whole new gallery for the expanding collection of Islamic miniatures in 1990.

Further rebuildings have gradually included more rooms and improved facilities. In 2006 the museum was temporarily closed to the public when it embarked on a major refurbishment and rearrangement of the collections. It reopened on 15 May 2009.

The architect Carl Petersen was responsible for the first rebuilding of the top floor, where the roof was given a steeper pitch so as to create adequate space for two large, skylighted rooms. This rebuilding was completed around 1920.

Part of the top floor was made into three rooms, finished in neo-classical style with partly coffered ceilings, tall panels, and patterned parquet floors. Two of the rooms also had skylights since these rooms were used as galleries. The woodwork still attracts much attention. The wood comes from the King Christian VI's dock, which was broken up in 1918. The darker or lighter colour of the oak depends on the time it has spent in the water.

In 1928, the architect Kaare Klint designed two exhibition rooms for the growing collection of porcelain. The walls are covered with Douglas fir and the exhibition cases were manufactured in Rudolf Rasmussen's workshop. The rooms and the exhibition cases are still in use, but now exclusively for the Islamic collection.

The current rebuilding of the museum, lasting until 15 May 2009, is undertaken by Wohlert Arkitekter.

Collections
The collection is most noted for its collection of Islamic art and contains works from almost the entire Islamic cultural sphere, from Spain in the West to India in the East and dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.

The European and Danish collections include:


 * Furniture (Chippendale, works by David Roentgen)
 * Porcelain (including early Meissen porcelain) and faience
 * Silverware
 * Sculptures, and ceramics made by Danish artists between c. 1880 and 1950

and paintings by: