Beautiful exhibition of the 18th century Danish portrait artist Jens Juel has just opened at the art museum Brandts in Odense, Denmark. My favorite painting shows a Chinese sailor in Copenhagen, wearing a borrowed mandarin suit in the 1780s - likely one of the very first Chinese to visit Denmark!

How it can sometimes feel to be a maritime historian - constantly having to defend the importance of ships, shipping and sailors :-) #maritimehistory

An exciting (and timely!) job for someone - Senior Researcher in Arctic Cultures and Cultural Heritage at the National Museum of Denmark. Deadline is 17th February: www.researchgate.net/job/1018407_...

📢 New Open access article At the Baltic gate: Copenhagen's role in international shipping in the latter half of the eighteenth century by Yrjö Kaukiainen In the late 18th C. Copenhagen was the second biggest urban centre in the Baltic Sea area. Read the article here - doi.org/10.1177/0843...

Had the pleasure of examining three of my museums wonderful figures of Danish-Norwegian supercargoes, created by a Chinese facemaker-artist in Canton in 1731. The detail created by the Chinese artist is just incredible - just look at the eyes, eyelashes and the whig! #maritimehistory #canton

I am researching five large paintings, that I believe were painted in 18th cent. Canton by Chinese artists. So far, I have found the copperplates the paintings were painted after for four paintings, but I still need the last one. It shows Kronborg in Elsinore, but what was it painted after?

The old symbols of seafaring, trade and wealth are everywhere in central Copenhagen, visible if you just look up!

Near the ancient cathedral in Lund in southern Sweden after a sunny winter’s day. Such a beautiful town!

A naval battle adorns this table clock from the 1650’s at the National Museum of Denmark. But the master engraver must have looked at an older image for inspiration, as the ship looks more 1500s to me - what do you think? #navalhistory #maritimehistory #earlymodern

The English musician Darby Scott playing at the court of king Christian IV of Denmark & Norway. The larger painting by Reinhold Timm dates from 1622. #earlymodern

An American naval brig drying sails, likely in Danish waters. Painted by C.W. Eckersberg in 1831/32. The painting belongs to the museum SMK in Copenhagen. I wonder which ship it is? #maritimehistory #usnavy #navalhistory

Visited colleagues today in a section of the National Museum I have never been to before. Quite a nice view from their offices :-) #copenhagen #christiansborg

1k followers already, thank you! To celebrate is here an old Finnish brig and my shadow from a midsummers sunset on the fascinating island of #Soumenlinna or #Sveaborg in Finland this summer :-) #maritimehistory

For the Danish-speakers here: Still a few spots left for three public lectures in Copenhagen about Danish maritime and colonial history the coming three Mondays: fuau.dk/emdrup/progr... #maritimehistory #danmarkshistorie

Should Royal Monkeys Wear Sweaters During the Winter? 🐒❄️ This question was asked by Olof von Dalin in a letter to Carl Linnaeus, as he was worried that the Queen's monkeys were struggling with the cold. Translated here by @nataliesmith.bsky.social #SvHist #EarlyModern scilicet.org.uk/should-royal...

The captain of the first direct ship from Copenhagen to China 1730-32 was the Norwegian war-hero Michael Tønder. As the engraving shows, he must have been skilled in keeping his cool, despite a close encounter with a Swedish cannon ball during the Great Nordic War! #maritimehistory #navalhistory

“The morning after the Swedish Assault on Copenhagen 1659” painted by the Danish artist Christian Mølsted, 1919. The ship stuck in the ice is the small Danish frigate Højenhald, which functioned as an additional bastion during the nightly defense. #maritimehistory #earlymodern

Bringing in the beer for weekend! Detail from a painting from 1666 by Wolffgang Heimbach at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. #maritimehistory #earlymodern

Sounds very interesting - are you going? :-)

The Danish Asiatic Company (1730-1844) was extremely profitable with its monopoly on Danish-Norwegian trade in Asia. However, no painting exists of the HQ in Copenhagen in operation, which is odd. This later painting shows the HQ in the 1860's. Let me know if you find another! #maritimehistory

Quite a bit of #maritimehistory in there as well!

A warm library (with ladders!) is a great place to be on a cold day. The Ethnographic Library at the National Museum of Denmark covers the whole world and has not failed me yet!

A favorite object at the Nat. Mus. of Denmark is this large painting of tea prod. in China. Above the door of the building is a sign saying Wanhe Háng, owned by the Chinese merchant Monqua, who made a very large trade with the Danish Asiatic Comp. in 1786 - perhaps the occasion for the painting?

A new Starter Pack of Danish historians - let me know if you want to be added. As you might notice, there is a bit of a gender unequality in the Pack, so please help if you can :-)

On the very first direct sea voyage between Denmark and China 1730-32, cadet Hans Schumacher painted the company ship CRON PRINTZ CHRISTIAN - a former Swedish warship - on the front of his journal, surrounded by Chinese decorations. I wonder where his inspiration came from for these details?

A great idea! Here's my contribution: 1) an article about the Danish slave trade in the early modern Indian Ocean 2) That ships are sailing network hubs and it would be cool with software to visualise and animate it as the ship and its people move through time and space #maritimehistory

One of the oldest paintings of ships of the Danish Asiatic Company shows the frigate DRONNING SOPHIA MAGDALENE halfway between Denmark and China at the Cape of Good Hope. The painting is likely from the 1760’s - perhaps by a Chinese artist? Photo: Maritime Museum of Denmark #maritimehistory

What better way to start a presence on a new social medium than with an 18th century Chinese duck-boat on the Pearl River near Canton/Guangzhou? The image was likely bought by a Danish supercargo in the 1780's and brought to Copenhagen.