Collection of Coats of Arms of the Noble Families of the Estonian Knighthood

Coat-of-arm Plaques

The walls and mirror vault of the Landtag Hall, completed in 1849, are covered with the coats of arms of the noble families of the former Estonian Knighthood – a total of 280 heraldic plaques. Of these, 226 octagonal plaques are mounted on the walls and 54 oval plaques on the mirror vault. Over time, the plaques have been restored, relocated, and reshaped, and in many cases reduced in size.

The coats of arms are arranged in three groups according to the seniority of the noble families: first, the Uradel (old nobility) (65 plaques, 47 families), followed by the Swedish-era nobility (53 plaques, 51 families), and finally the families matriculated during the period of the Russian Empire (162 plaques, 156 families). Within each group, families are arranged alphabetically by surname and, from 1851 onward, by the sequence of their matriculation. Branches of the same family holding noble titles are placed according to seniority after the principal family.

Only families that owned or administered a manor in the former Duchy of Estonia were permitted to display their coat of arms in the Landtag Hall. Although more than 300 noble families were matriculated into the Estonian Knighthood, the hall displays the coats of arms of 254 families.

The majority of the Estonian nobility (178 families) held no noble title. The highest rank was that of duke (1 family); of the princes (7 families in total), only one was of Estonian origin. The rare title of marquis (1 family) ranked above that of count (25 families). The most common title was that of baron (34 families), and as a legacy of earlier times, the honorary title of Freiherr (7 families) was also present.

Condition Assessment

All plaques of the coats of arms (280 in total) were brought to the Kanut Conservation and Digitalisation Centre in January 2023, where they were examined individually and documented by members of the expert committee (January–March 2023). The committee based its assessment on the museum’s existing MuIS records. A comprehensive report was compiled, containing information on the condition of the objects prior to conservation, verified and, where necessary, corrected measurements, records of damage, and a conservation plan for each object.

Standard museum criteria for assessing damage were applied. The primary aim of the condition assessment was to evaluate the suitability of each plaque for long-term display in a vertical position on the walls and mirror vault of the Landtag Hall.

GOOD: The painted surface and support material were stable. General surface dirt, paint splashes, and insect excrement were present. Minor rust stains, small holes, and slight deformation could occur. This category included 7 plaques.

SATISFACTORY: The objects showed general surface soiling and localised damage, including rust stains and holes at fixing points, streaking, stains, and deformation of the cardboard and/or metal support; losses of cardboard and/or paint layers of up to 20%; non-flaking craquelure on painted surfaces (up to 40%). This category included 46 plaques.

POOR: Extensive non-flaking craquelure (up to 100%) and flaking, powdering paint layers (up to 40%) that had lost their binding medium; surface dirt, accretions, rust stains, streaking, darkened and uneven varnish (on metal supports), deformation, tears, and losses of cardboard. The visual integrity of the coat of arms was compromised. This category included 187 plaques.

VERY POOR: The visual integrity of the coat of arms was severely compromised due to major paint loss (50–100%). Remaining paint layers were actively flaking and had lost adhesion to the support (cardboard, ground, or underlying paint layer), and consolidation did not ensure stability. The overall condition did not permit display in a vertical position. This category included 40 plaques.

expert committee

• Kadri Tael (Estonian National Heritage Board)
• Hedi Kard (Art Museum of Estonia)
• Margit Pajupuu (Art Museum of Estonia)
• Theodora Kormpaki (Estonian History Museum)
• Viljar Vissel (Virumaa Museums)
• Hilkka Hiiop (Estonian Academy of Arts)
• Merily Paomets (National Archives of Estonia)
• Maris Allik (Conservation and Digitisation Centre Kanut)
• Heige Peets (Conservation and Digitisation Centre Kanut)

Täiendavalt olid juurde kutsutud Kalev Uustalu (Conservation and Digitisation Centre Kanut), Gert Uiboaed (Government Office of Estonia), Ann Aaresild (Estonian History Museum), Grete Ots ja Grete Nilp (Conservation and Digitisation Centre Kanut).

The conservation of the coat-of-arms collection required an enormous amount of work – over 11,000 working hours by conservators at the Kanut Conservation and Digitalisation Centre.

Conservation

Examination of the coat-of-arms plaques revealed that, over time, some had been overpainted or conserved to varying and often inconsistent standards. In most cases, documentation of earlier interventions was lacking. In order to develop a conservation methodology for the collection and to evaluate suitable materials and techniques, six plaques with different types of damage were selected. A conservators’ workshop was held on 15 February 2023 at the KUMU conservation laboratory of the Art Museum of Estonia.

According to the expert committee’s assessment, the conservation of the plaques required the following treatments, depending on their condition:

• GOOD CONDITION: Dry cleaning and preparation for display (including necessary preliminary work for mounting in a protective case).
• SATISFACTORY CONDITION: Surface cleaning (dry or with chemical agents), modelling and smoothing of cardboard damaged around nail holes, consolidation of paint layers and craquelure, reduction of deformations of the support where possible, reinforcement of losses in the cardboard support and, if necessary, retouching; preparation of the plaque for display.
• POOR CONDITION: Surface cleaning with chemical agents, treatment of craquelure, consolidation of flaking and powdering paint layers, repair of tears and, where necessary, reconstruction (retouching) of losses, reduction of deformations; preparation of the plaque for display.
• VERY POOR CONDITION: For further preservation in museum storage, the objects require conservation that ensures proper flat storage under appropriate climatic conditions. As the condition of the coat-of-arms plaques does not allow them to be kept in a vertical position even after conservation, it is recommended, in the interest of preservation, to use a printed reproduction based on a digital copy for display.