Who was MÜLLER, PHILIPP HEINRICH?

MÜLLER, PHILIPP HEINRICH (Germ.). Also MILLER. A famous Medallist of the end of the seventeenth century, and early part of the eighteenth. He was born at Augsburg, 2. October 1654, and died there, 17. January 1719, at the age of 65. His father's name was Hans Jakob Müller, and his mother's, Barbara, née Wächler. Very little is known of the artist's life, especially of his early career. His parents being of modest means, he was obliged to begin quite young to provide for himself, and learned the trade of a silversmith and chaser. Later, and with the advice and protection of the Augsburg town-councillor, Leonhard Weiss, he took to medal-engraving, in which art he was soon to acquire universal renown. In 1682 he married Anna Elisabeth Henesius, by whom he had two sons, Christoph Elias and Christian Ernst, who both followed their father's profession, but not with so much success. Müller's earliest medallic production is said to be a portrait of his patron and friend, Leonhard Weiss, 1677, who in that same year entrusted him with the execution of the fine commemorative medal on the Completion of the Town-hall of Augsburg. He was then employed by Caspar Gottlieb Laufer, Chief Warden of the Mint of Nuremberg, and Friedrich Kleinert, on the large series of medals (Medaillen-Cabinet), which they issued, under Imperial permission or privilege, and in collaboration with artists residing at Nuremberg, Augsburg, and other places, and among whom where Martin Brunner, Georg Hautsch, Oexlein, Vestner, &c. Müller settled in business at Nuremberg, but returned to his native city sometime before his death. His medals became known and admired all over Europe, and they belong to the best of the time. He executed Portraits of most of the Rulers and Princes of his time, and commemorative Medals of events of interest in contemporary German history and connected with other countries, as Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Russia, the Republic of Venice, &c. Like Brunner he made a large number of dies for striking draughtsmen in wood, which even excel the silver medals. Hofrath Dr von Ahorner presented a series of sixty ot these in 1836 to the Augsburg Historical Society, for the Annual Report of which he wrote in that year a biographical notice of the artist. Köhler, Lohner, Van Loon, and other works reproduce some of Ph. H. Müller's medals, which are usually signed : P.H.M. or marked with a Star ; those signed with an H. only are supposed to have been executed in collaboration with his sons, one of whom, Christian Ernst, was also employed by the Salzburg Mint. P. H. Müller worked for various mints, beside those of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Salzburg, already mentioned, and his signature occurs on currency of Brandenburg, Würtemberg, Löwenstein- Wertheim, Lucerne, &c. The following list includes all the best known medals and coins by Philipp Heinrich Müller, but it is far from being complete. It is impossible, from Lauffer's catalogue, to discriminate between the works of the various engravers who contributed to his well-known medallic series, but I have mentioned all those that have come under my notice and about the authorship of which there can be no doubt. They are given in their chronological order : — 1676. Commemorative medal of the Coronation of Leopold I., 1658 (inscribed on the edge : memoria avgvstissimi conivgii avstriaco palatini anno 1676); — 1677. Leonhard Weiss, of Augsburg; — The Augsburg Townhall, built by Elias Holt, 1615-1620; — 1681. Leopold I., pax sit pacifis &c. The Emperor and Empress, &c. ; medal of Augsburg ; — Coronation of the Empress Eleonora and King Joseph I. at Augsburg ; — 1682. Joachim von Sandrart; — 1683. Siege of Vienna raised (several varieties); — Bust of Count Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg, Relief of Vienna; — 1685. Johann Christoph, Prince Abbot of Ellwangen, oval, 48X44 mill. — 1686. Leopold I. Jupiter on eagle; — 1687. Victories of Prince Elector Max Emmanuel of Bavaria over the Turks; — Battle of Mohacs, with bust of Leopold I., 54 mill.; — Bishop Marquard Sebastian, of Bamberg, oval, 54 X 46 mill. ; — Leopold I., Emperor of Germany, 53 mill. ; — 1688. Portrait-medallion of Leopold I. (dedicated by the city of Augsburg); — Campaign of John George III. of Saxony, on the Rhine and Danube; — Capture of Belgrade; — The Nuremberg Town-hall ; — 1689. Accession of William III. of Great Britain; — Safety of Britain (the Protestant faith secured) ; — Toleration Act in Great Britain; — Recapture of Mayence; — Frederick III., Prince Elector of Brandenburg, and Capture of Bonn, 12. October 1689 ; — Max Emmanuel, Prince Elector of Bavaria, His Campaigns against the French ; — 1690. Leopold I. and his son, Joseph (Obv. illustrated); — View of Augsburg; — Death of Schomberg; — Leonhard Weiss, of Augsburg; — Francesco Morosini, Victory over the Turks at Monembasia; alcides domito, &c. Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperidae. Neapolis malvasiae, &c. Fortress and shipping; — 1691. Johann Philipp, Graf von Lamberg, bishop of Passau; — Christian Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg ; — Pacification of Ireland ; — Congress of the allied Princes at The Hague ; — 1692. Accession of Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands; — Jacob Ernst Thoman; — John George IV., Prince Elector of Saxony, prepares for war; — John George IV. crosses the Rhine ; — Battle of La Hogue (two types, one illustrated) ; — 1693. Satirical medal on the Relief of Rheinfels; — 1694. Campaigns of that year (Three Victories against the Turks, and Taking of Peterwardein) ; — Medal of Johann Adam, Prince of Troppau (illustrated) ; — 1695. Casale taken and Liberty restored in Italy; — Namur recaptured ; — Johann Heinrich Horbius, pastor in Hamburg ; — 1696. Broad Double Thaler of Georg Friedrich of Brandenburg ; — Thaler of Passau, with bust of the bishop John Philip, Count of Lamberg ; — 1697. Thaler of Maximilian Charles, Count of Löwenstein- Wertheim (Rochefort branch); — Säkular-Thaler of Augsburg ; — Peace of Ryswick (sev. var.); — Thaler, of John Philip, bishop of Passau (illustrated) ; — 1698. Thaler in gold (weight of 5 ducats), and in silver, of Lucerne; — 1699. Marriage of Joseph I. with Princess Wilhelmina Amalie of Lüneburg ; — Medal of Franz Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuberg (signed : P. H. MILLER) ; — 1700. Charles XII., Battle of Narva; — Leopold, Count von Lambert, Austrian ambassador at Rome ; — 1702. Recapture of Landau by the Imperial army (Wellenheim, 7460) ; — Peter the Great, Schlüsselburg taken ; — Capture of the citadel and city of Ulm ; — Memmingen taken ; — Portraitmedals of Max Emmanuel of Bavaria (2 var.) ; — 1703. Max Emmanuel of Bavaria, his Victories in the War for the Spanish succession ; — Peter the Great, Capture of Nyenschanz ; — Foundation of St. Petersburg (2 var.) ; — 1704. Peter the Great, Building of Cronschlots (2 var.); — Id., Capture of Dorpat; — Id., Capture of Narva (2 types); — Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse, Victory at Grevenburg; — British Victories in 1704 ; — Relief of Vienna ; — Victory of Höchstädt; — 1705. Barcelona taken; — Peter the Great, Capture of Mitau ; — Nicholas Christoph Lyncker, jurist (1643-1726); — Johann Philip Count Lamberg, Cardinal Archbishop of Passau ; —1706. Barcelona relieved; Bust of Charles III. vnivs.liberatio. alterivs . oppressio ; — Prince Eug?ne of Savoy, Successes in Italy ; ex. : sabavd . liberat . mediolan . restitvt . dvce . avrelian. CVM EXERC . FVGATO ; — 1707. George Louis, Prince Elector of Brunswick takes over the command of the Imperial army against the French ; — Thaler of Eberhard Ludwig, of Würtemberg ; — Dedication of the Cathedral of Laibach, with portrait of Ferdinand, Graf von Khuenburg (2 var.); — 1708. Battle of Oudenarde; — City of Lille captured; — Meeting of Prince Eug?ne and Marlborough ; — Peter the Great, Battle of Leesno (2 var.) ; — 1709. Charles XII. of Sweden, his Sojourn at Bender; — Id., Return to Helsingborg ; — Peter the Great, Victory of Pultawa (2 var.); — Capture of Löwenhaupt at Perewolotschna; — Campaign of 1709; — Franz Anton, archbishop of Salzburg, gold medal with a horse on R (illustrated) ; — Another ; R. Arms ; — Charles William, of Baden-Durlach ; R. avdacem fortvna coronat. Crowned lion to 1. ; — 1710. Victory of Charles XII. at Helsingborg; — Peter the Great, a series of medals on the captures of Elbingen, Wiburg, Riga, Dünamünde, Pernau, Arensburg, Kexholm, Reval, &c. ; — Victories of the Russians in Livonia; — Russian Successes in 1710; — Capture of Douai, St. Venant, Béthune and Aire; — 1711. Concord in Great Britain (with bust of Queen Anne); — 1712. Thaler of Maximilian Charles, Prince of Löwenstein- Wertheim; — Homage of the city of Nuremberg to Charles VII., on his Coronation ; — 1713. Peter the Great's visit to Hamburg; — Russian troops landing at ?bo; — Battle of Pelkinen ; — 1715. Joseph Clemens, archbishop of Cologne, The French expelled; — Peter the Great, Battle of Wasa; — Id., Naval Victory at Tweremünde; — Id., Taking of Nyschlot ; — Arrival of Charles XII. at Stralsund on his return to Sweden ; — 1715. Return of Max Emmanuel to Bavaria (Obv. illustrated); — Count Franz von Harrach, archbishop of Salzburg, large gold medal with view of the city; — Another, with R. Horse; — Astrological medal on the Coronation of Charles VI. ; — Prince Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm of the Neuburg branch, as Administrator of the Empire, 66 mill, (illustrated); — 1716. Charles XII. ; Attack on Norway ; — Siege of Corfou ; — 1717. Medal (so-called " Saulthaler" on the Enmity of France). 1718. Building of the Castle Church of Behringersdorf; — Small gold medal with Portrait of Franz Anton von Harrach, archbishop of Salzburg ; R. horse; — Conclusion of the Peace of Passarowitz, 21. July 1818 (signed : P.H.M.); — Another, with bust of Charles VI., published by Caspar Theophil Lauffer (one of the artist's last works); — Undated. Prince Elector Joseph Clemens, archbishop of Cologne; — Leopold I. ; — Eleonora Magdalena Theresia, consort of Leopold I. (illustrated); — Prince Albert Ernst II., of Öttingen- Öttingen, 44 mill. ; — Medalet, with view of Stuttgart; — So-called "Rathhaus" Thaler of Nuremberg; — Matth. John, Count Schulenburg, defender of Corfu; — Lothaire Francis von Schönborn, archbishop of Mayence (1695-1729); — Eberhard Ludwig, duke of Wurtemberg (1693-1733) ; — Raimund Ferdinand, bishop of Passau (1713-1722); — Ferdinand von Lobkowitz (1677-1715), signed : P. H. MILLER ; — Many religious medals for Marriage, Christening, Dedication of buildings, and other festivities; — Box wood and Ebony Draughtsmen ; — Friendship Medals, with figures of David and Jonathan, Jacob and Esau, &c. P. H. Müller is said to have engraved the dies for the Thalers, Half, and Quarter Thalers of Salzburg, 1711-1716. The light Austrian Thalers, which were issued at Augsburg during the Austrian Occupation, from 1704-1714, were also engraved by him, under the Mint-master, Christian Holeysen. Some of these Müller signed with a six-rayed star. Many of the medals mentioned under C. G. Lauffer were engraved by this artist. Ammon gives the following varieties of Müller's signature : P.H.M.; — P. H. MÜLLER; — P. H. MILLER: — P. H. MILER F.; — P. H. MVLLER F.; — M.; — P. H. MYLLER. Bibliography. — Dr von Ahorner, Nachrichten über den berühmten Augsburg'- schen Stempelschneider Philipp Heinrich Müller, und Beschreibung einiger von demselben geprägten historischen Medaillen, Jahrs-Bericht des historischen Vereins im Oberdonau-Kreise, Augsburg, 1836. — Nagler, Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Ammon, op. cit. — Dr Eug. Merzbacher, Kunst Medaillen Katalog, Mai 1900. — Iversen, Medaillen auf die Thaten Peter des Grossen, — 1872. Domanig, op. cit. — Menadier, Schaumünzen des Houses Hohenzollern, 1901. — Krohn, Thomsen Bronce Medaillier, 1860. — Hildebrand, op. cit. — Katalog der Münzen-und Medaillen-Stempel Sammlung in Wien, 1902. — Tobler-Meyer, op. cit. — Catalogus der nederlandsche en op Nederland betrekking hebbende Gedenkpenningen, 1903. —Van Loon, op. cit. - Domanig, Die Deutsche Medaille, Wien, 1907.

Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904

Mint master: In medieval and early modern Germany, the Münzmeister ("mint master", the Latin term is monetarius) was the director or administrator of a mint, a moneyer with responsibility for the minting of coins, or specie. His duties were defined differently at different locations and ages.