Early Life and Training in Denmark Born in Kolding, Denmark, on May 2, 1825, Peter Toft entered a world shaped by the steady hands of his parents, Nicolai Peter Toft and Andriette Toft. His father served as a master tailor and a captain in the civic guard, providing a household of discipline and structure. Though the seeds of a creative life were present from his earliest years, his path was not destined for the quiet life of a tradesman in his native land. Instead, the call of the sea proved too strong to ignore. At the age of sixteen, Peter Toft left the familiarity of Denmark to begin hi…