Jacob Tostrup

Jacob Ulrik Holfeldt Tostrup (born 1806 in Hjelmeland, death 1890), Norwegian goldsmith/jeweler; educated in Bergen, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. Born as number 4 of 8 siblings in a family which could only afford to send the oldest to university, he started as a goldsmith apprentice.

Founded the jewelers firm J. Tostrup in 1832 in Christiania (Oslo). The firm made the original enameled insignia for the Order of St. Olav, when the order was established in 1848 and later in 1883 it was put in charge of the whole production. J. Tostrup received the title royal court jeweler, and Jacob Tostrup received a the 'King’s Medal of Merit' for this work as a goldsmith.

Tostrup took on his granddaughters husband Torolf Prytz, an architect and goldsmith, as a partner in 1884. Torolf Prytz became owner of the store after Jacob Tostrup's death. Mr. Prytz was one of the architects behind the new store, Tostrup House, built 1893-1898 next to the Norwegian parliament.

Sources

* [http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Ulrich_Holfeldt_Tostrup Norwegian Wikipedia]
* [http://www.saintolav.com/historyofstolav.html St. Olav]