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By Makaiya Shaskin
Introduction:
The Kunstkammer emerges from a tradition of collecting objects originating in the 15th century in Renaissance Europe. So how is it we see this tradition carried on all the way to the 18th century at Glensheen Mansion in our very own Northern Minnesota?
The Kunstkammer, also known as curiosity cabinet, is a style of collecting that we see reflected in the habits of Chester and Clara Congdon in their pursuit of acquiring and curating art and oddities. Curiosity cabinets were often meant to be a personal collection within a home or estate, and something we see continued in the Gilded Age period of collection. Other instances of curiosity cabinets were often for public or semi-public display. These are also a style of collection that underpinned the foundation for many aspects of modern museum collection habits.
For instance, Belgian physician Samuel Quiccheberg’s 1565 treatise describes collecting as “a theater of the broadest scope, containing authentic materials and precise reproductions of the whole of the universe”. It places particular importance on considering the ways objects are displayed, labeled, and ordered. In the historical context of this piece, 'cabinets' were not a singular storage space, but the entire room used for displaying these oddities.
Frontispiece, Olaus Worm, Museum Wormianum (Leiden: Isaac Elzevier, 1655), engraved by G. Wingendorp, 1655, engraving on paper, 27.8 x 35.8 cm (© The Trustees of the British Museum, London)
Ole' Worm: The Man, the Myth, the Legend
Ole' Worm: The Man, the Myth, the Legend
I would be remiss to talk about the history of curiosity cabinets without mentioning a fine gentleman by the name of Ole’ Worm and his Museum Wormianum. His collection set certain standards for those who fancied themselves naturalists and patrons of the arts. First, while private collections were often highly variable in their means and manner of classification, they tended to be in the habit of at least labeling and sorting their collections in some capacity. Examining these classifications in the case of the Museum Wormanium will provide insight into the manner of classification done by Chester Congdon in his own collection some 260 years later.
In Ole’ Worm's Kunstkammer we see many distinct orders & classifications of objects:
Naturalia (objects of nature): shells, corals, minerals, fossils, narwhal “unicorn” tusks, bezoars.
Artificialia (works of art): goldsmiths’ masterpieces, ivories, enamel, intaglio gems, micromosaics.
Scientifica/Instrumenta: astrolabes, globes, clocks, automata, microscopes.
Exotica/Ethnographica: objects from Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Mirabilia: wonders that had no easy explanation.
Portrait of Olaus Worm in Olaus Worm, Museum Wormianum (Leiden: Isaac Elzevier, 1655) (Lund University Library)
Nagara Yozo, Waterfall of Mino, Silk Embroidery, Japanese
Moran, Kenneth J., Reception Room curio cabinet at Glensheen, 1977-07, (University of Minnesota Duluth)
Orientalism & Collecting in the West
Orientalism & Collecting in the West
It becomes evident that there was a marked aesthetic fascination that went beyond the mere collection of objects viewed as oriental, but also a romanticization of the experience itself. A romantic notion in the cultural West, particularly aimed at young men. The idea of being an explorer. Of discovering untold and mysterious lands. Positioning unknown cultures and objects as a means of pseudo-academic engagement. A way to pose oneself as an intellectual and artistic mind. Shaped inherently by the growing Imperialism that marked the Western interest in the East.
This adds a layer of complexity to the idea of collecting for the sake of displaying wealth, or representing one's status. Though this still certainly played a role in the minds of those curating personal collections. This romantic idea of the entrepreneurial world traveler became central in the cultural zeitgeist of the Gilded Age.
The Near East and Far East differ based on time and contemporary understanding, so for our purposes the Near East can be understood as the Asian regions West of India, North Africa, and the parts of Europe controlled by the Ottoman Empire. This term only became common in the 1800s. The Far East became a popular term even earlier during the 1600s and can be understood as the regions of Asia to the East of India.
Glensheen Archival Material (Note the purchase of "Waterfall of Mino")
The Grand Tour: Collecting as Cultural Precedent
The Grand Tour: Collecting as Cultural Precedent
With the Gilded Age came a sudden accessibility to not only items of cultural fascination, but the wealth to collect them. Also at this time there was a growing popularity of a trend known as The Grand Tour. This was a popular trend for aristocratic noblemen to travel the world, often with the goal of growing their collections, and discovering unfamiliar lands and cultures.
It was an extremely expensive and indulgent trip, that in and of itself functioned as an inherent display of wealth and power. Ole' Worm even engaged in a ‘grand tour’ of Europe in 1605, and some 50 years later, at the time his collection had grown extensive, it was clear both the museums he had seen, and the places he had been had led to his systems of organization. As well as the contents of his collection.
Worm gathered a extremely varied amount of items from the natural world. Things like rocks and minerals, a wide range of taxidermized animals, bones, man-made artefacts and antiquities. These included things such as Roman jewelry, scientific instruments, and various other tools and implements. This interest in the natural world, as well as man-made curiosities and tools is one that we see reflected in Chester's collecting habits as well, emerging from this longstanding tradition highlighted by Ole' Worm. We also see a great interest in objects from Japan, and other far off places. Though it is worth noting that Chester and Clara collected a great deal of works from Europe and America, and were patrons of the arts in more senses than just collecting oddities. Frequently in correspondence with, and actively supporting artists.
Domenico Remps, Cabinet of Curiosities, 1690, Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence, Italy.
Frans Francken the Younger, Chamber of Art and Curiosities, 1636. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Conclusion:
The collection curated by Chester and Clara Congdon represents a particular tradition of Gilded Age collecting, rooted in both European ideas of collecting, a longstanding history of organizing and curating collections, and the continued interest in American Gilded Age families to express social status, wealth, and intellectual engagement through display and collection of objects.
While the Congdons engaged in the similar trends of their Gilded Age contemporaries, they were informed by their own developing tastes as artistic patrons, and the degree of frugality their Methodist background provided them. They were not born into wealth, but they curated a home and collection that reflected their artistic sensibilities, and their status as widely traveled and informed individuals.
Bibliography
Bibliography
fionamelhuish. 2020. “A Cabinet of Curiosities : Ole Worm - Special Collections.” Special Collections. May 12, 2020. https://collections.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/news-and-views/a-cabinet-of-curiosities-ole-worms-museum-wormianum-1655/.
Lee, Savannah. 2023. “Imagined East: Decorative Arts and the Imperial Gaze.” ArcGIS StoryMaps. Esri. April 22, 2023. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f0a7a65f7942454daf2d6eb01f7fcbe1.
Webb, J. D. 2009. “Golden Age Collecting in America’s Middle West: Chester and Clara Congdon’s Glensheen Historical Manor and Raymond Wyer’s an Art Museum.” Journal of the History of Collections 22 (1): 99–113. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhp034.
Smith, Jessica. “The Grand Tour – the 18th Century Aristocratic Rite of Passage.” Invaluable, 2 Aug. 2023, www.invaluable.com/blog/the-grand-tour-the-18th-century-aristocratic-rite-of-passage/?srsltid=AfmBOor85iCnjRxLALc-NTCBRBxsHg69oZK-m3xr2OuEfGNvrkPiEy5O. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.
Wallentine, Anne. “How Cabinets of Curiosities Laid the Foundation for Modern Museums.” Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Nov. 2023, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-cabinets-of-curiosities-laid-the-foundation-for-modern-museums-180983265/.
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