In 1769 he started teaching mathematics, mechanics, hydraulics and engineering at the School of Mechanical Engineering in Ljubljana. Shipbuilding, and port devices and structures were another two subjects taught at this school, and Gruber's wish was to build a dockyard nearby, which would have been too expensive an enterprise.
Some of the teaching materials were naval models that were made at the school between 1774 and 1783, and are now exhibited at our museum. They are believed to have been made by Spirito Vigo and his assistants.
Before being included in the Maritime Museum collection, these models were kept in the National Museum in Ljubljana, still their current owner. Some of Gruber's workshop models were also exhibited in Pula, Croatia, but disappeared during the withdrawal of the Italian army in 1943.
The "Kaiser Karl VI" ship of the line with 106 cannons was made with the help of experts from Antwerp according to the plans of the Dutch and Belgian ships. The construction took place in Rijeka, Croatia, in the years 1717-1719. The model was made after the original plans, probably on the scale of 20 to 1.
Other Gruber models exhibited in the Maritime Museum are the Venetian battle galley, the lagoon cargo galley, the corvette, the schooner and a framework used during ship construction.
Under construction!
Before going to sea, the daring seamen and fishermen used to go to these churches to make their vows and pray to the Saints, especially St. Mary, St. Nicholas and St. Blasius, to protect them. Upon their safe return home, they would thank the Saints with tablets.
The largest collection of the seamen's votive tablets is held in the vestry of the parish and pilgrims' church of St. Mary's Appearance in Strunjan. Some originals and copies of the votive tablets from this church are exhibited in the Maritime Museum.
The pattern of these votive tablets follows the Italian tradition, differing from the pattern used in the rest of Slovenia. The seamen's tablets, presenting marine adventures and legends, are rich in fantasy, drama and dynamism. Along with the modest written sources, these illustrations are a precious source of information on naval history. In these paintings we recognise various types of ships (fishermen's boats with regional or local features, various cargo sailing and row boats, as well as paddle-wheel and propeller steamboats), all sorts of ship equipment (e.g. sails and trimming). The legends tell us the names of the ships, their misadventures (shipwrecks, pirate attacks, battles, etc.), where and how often they occurred, the trading and travelling routes, etc.
The votive tablets are rarely good paintings, their authors usually being self-taught or members of painters' workshops. These paintings are therefore classified as naive art.
There were, however some excellent painters, such as Vasilij Basi Ivankovic, an ocean navigation captain and author of portraits and scenes of life at sea.
(Duska ZITKO, Ex voto. Votivne podobe pomorcev. Koper, 1992)
All old maritime cultures believed in exorcising evil spirits from the sea by placing various symbols and figures on a ship's bow. Descending from old beliefs and traditions, prow carving became a genuine branch of art.
The 19th century, the golden period of sailing ships, saw the height of bow decoration. It was in this period, that skilled carvers gilded or coloured figureheads. Most figureheads found in maritime museums and in private collections around the world belong to this period. Their popularity is seen in the range of elaboration - there are good craftsmen's products and marvellous pieces of folk art but also fine masterpieces of the highest artistic value.
The figureheads on rich large ships often represented the owners or captains, characters from maritime mythology or female figures - personifications of various historic events or natural phenomena. They often symbolised the name of the ship. Sometimes they were carved in the form of a stem or a weapon, or another object, which in some way represented the ship's owner, or name or purpose of the ship.
It is well known that the crew took very good care of the figurehead, even protecting it against bad weather. A damaged figurehead would bring bad luck to the entire crew. The same would be expected if the figurehead should be used as firewood.
On the Slovene coast, only seven figureheads are preserved. They are a testament to a fine carving tradition. Six are exhibited in the Sergej Masera Maritime Museum of Piran.
The most valuable figurehead in the museum is a gilded female torso (90 x 60 x 45 centimetres). Similar female torsos were quite frequent, especially in the 19th century. A figurehead of Medusa adorned Corriere d'Egitto, a sailing ship owned by captain Nasario Zetto from Koper. It is believed to be from the beginning of the 19th century. It represents a woman with shoulder-length hair and terrifying eyes, whose neck is guarded by two coiled snakes. Her large breasts are covered by a softly falling tunic. It is her facial expression and gilded body that are impressive.
The most sizeable figurehead (110 x 146 x 58 centimetres) exhibited in the Maritime Museum in Piran is a sea horse, painted dark green and brown, also from a 19th century sailing ship from Koper. It was donated to the Museum of Koper by Mr Antonio Fonda - Savio from Trieste, Italy, and was part of the Koper collection until 1959. The figure is a mythological creature with a horse like head and mane, whose back resembles that of a sea horse. This type of figurehead is quite frequent and can be found in maritime museums around Europe.
(JPG format, 37 Kb)
Another interesting figurehead represents a head of curly hair (52 x 35 x 35 centimetres), and is a remarkable piece of carving. In its time it probably adorned a trabaccolo, as there is a similar head from an old Venetian trabaccolo, found in the Venetian maritime museum. Unfortunately the Curly Head kept in Piran is severely damaged, having served as a chopping block after being removed from the ship.
The other figureheads in the museum are smaller, representing a sea monster, a female figure (perhaps St Mary, the protector of seamen) and a Nereid.
(Duska ZITKO: Ladijske polene v koprskem in piranskem muzeju. Annales; St. 6. Koper, 1995.)
