museums and institutions:
Attributed works:
II. The Virgin Mary, by Arnt van Tricht (fl.c.1530-70). Oak, having lost its original polychromy, 100 cm. high. Calcar, c.1540. Purchased 1987. Inv. RBK 1987-21. The figure originally formed part of a Crucifixion group; the St John the Evangelist from the same group was acquired by the Rijksmuseum in 1898. Inv. NM 11155. The figure of the crucified Christ is presumed to be lost.
Attributed works:
IX. Vase (Vase Etrusque de Naples). Biscuit porcelain, painted in colours and gold, with gilt bronze handles, 59.5 cm. high; 29 cm. diam. Sèvres, 1858, the frieze painted by Paul-Maric Roussel. Purchased 1987 with the aid of a grant from the Belport Familienstiftung. Inv. RBK 1987-14. The shape of this vase was designed in 1849 by Jules-Pierre-Michel Diéterle (1811-89), chef des travaux d'art at Sèvres. A smaller pair was shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, and another example was exhibited at the 1855 Paris Exposition Universelle.
Attributed works:
X. Comb, by René Lalique (1860-1945). Horn, gold and diamonds, 15.5 by 7.6 cm. Paris, c.1902. Purchased 1987. Inv. RBK 1987-2. The asymmetrical, Japanese-inspired design of this comb is extremely close to that of an example sold by Lalique in 1904 to his foremost patron, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. On that piece, however, the flowers of the Guelder rose are executed in plique-à-jour enamel centred by tiny diamonds.
Attributed works:
XI. Sideboard, by E. J. Wisselingh & Co., designed by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet (1864-1945). Coromandel wood inlaid with walnut, ivory and copper, 142 by 182.5 cm. Amsterdam, c.1900. Purchased 1988. Inv. RBK 1988-41. Lion Cachet was much influenced by P. J. H. Cuypers (1827-1921), the architect of the Rijksmuseum's building who favoured the neo-gothic style. Neogothic linenfold panelling features prominently on this early example of Dutch eclectic art nouveau.
Attributed works:
XII. Vase, by Wolfers Frères after a design by Philippe Wolfers (1858-1929). Silver, 24.2 cm. high; 12 cm. diam. Brussels, c.1895. Purchased 1988 with the aid of a grant from the Foundation Dr Hendrik Muller's Vaderlandsch Fonds. Inv. RBK 1988-5. An example of the emerging art nouveau style in the work of Wolfers, this vase was retailed by the firm of Bonebakker in Amsterdam. Wolfers Frères also produced vases of the same form with a more traditional, naturalistic decoration.
Attributed works:
XIII. Vase, by Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), the decoration probably by A. Kalt. Earthenware (grès brun), partly glazed, decorated in colours and black and white enamel, heightened in gold, 37.2 high; 27.3 cm. diam. Paris, c.1885-86. Purchased 1989. Inv. RBK 1989-5. Chaplet produced his revolutionary grès brun wares, on which the clay body was partly left unadorned, between 1882 and 1887. The vase is marked in gold 'HB&Co, for Hippolyte Boulenger & Cie, which started selling Chaplet's wares in 1886. The decoration bears the incised monogram 'AK', probably for A. Kalt.
Attributed works:
XIV. Vase. Porcelain, decorated in pâte-sur-pâte and painted in colours, 18.2 cm. high; 9.4 cm. diam. Meissen, c.1902, the decoration attributed to Rudolf Hentschel. Purchased 1986. Inv. RBK 1986-1. Like his father Julius (1843-1928), Rudolf Hentschel (1869-1951) was well-known at Meissen for his pâtesur-pâte decorations. He also designed some of the most distinctive shapes and painted decorations of Jugendstil Meissen porcelain. The pale blue, green and pink colours of the vase are characteristic of his work.
Attributed works:
XIX. Footed bowl, by François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (1802-55) executed by Jules Wièse (1818-90). Silver, partly gilt, with pearls, 35.3 by 26.2 cm. Paris, c.1851. Purchased 1989 with the aid of a grant from Christie's Amsterdam on the occasion of the retirement of S. H. Levie as Director-General of the Rijksmuseum. Inv. RBK 1989-13. An inscription records that this was a gift from Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868) to a Mr. Mel Poisat on the occasion of the latter's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1851. A similar piece was included in Froment-Meurice's triumphantly successful display at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.
Attributed works:
XVI. Tazza, by Adam van Vianen (c.1568/9-1627). Silver, 3.3 cm. high; 18.2 cm. diam. Utrecht, 1610. Purchased 1985, with the aid of grants from the Rijksmuseum Foundation and private donors. Inv. RBK 1985-24. The scene represents Odysseus and his men visiting Circe. The dish is the earliest known piece of silver by Adam van Vianen, showing the so-called auricular style for which he and his brother Paulus are famous. Elements of this style occur in the border and, more strikingly, on the boldly shaped winecooler represented in the scene itself.
Attributed works:
XVIII. Plate. Tin-glazed earthenware, painted in blue and manganese, 48.5 cm. diam. Delft, c.1675-85, 'De Grieksche A' factory under Samuel van Eenhoorn. Purchased 1986. Inv. RBK 1986-16. The 'Grieksche A' factory, under the direction first of Samuel van Eenhoorn (died 1686) and then of Adriaen Kocks (died 1701), was the favourite supplier of blue and white Delft to Queen Mary and to courts all over Europe. It is very rare to find a 'Grieksche A' piece decorated in manganese as well as blue.
Attributed works:
XX. Panel. Glass, wheel-engraved, 23 by 18.3 cm. Prague, dated 1620, the engraving attributed to Caspar Lehmann (c.1563/5-1622). Purchased 1986. Inv. RBK 1986-29. The recumbent lion personifies the Count Palatine Frederick V (1596-1632), who was King of Bohemia during the Winter of 1620. The panel forms part of a series, the precise function of which remains unknown.
Attributed works:
XXI. One of a pair of chestnut-vases, by Diederik Lodewijk Bennewitz (1764-1824). Silver, 29.8 cm. high; 13.7 cm. diam. Amsterdam, 1822. Purchased 1985. Inv. RBK 1985-28. Silver chestnut-vases were made in Holland in considerable quantities from the late eighteenth century. They were probably used for marrons glacés. Their bold, geometric form is typical of Amsterdam silver in the Empire style, and the cast ornament clearly copies French models.
Attributed works:
XXII. Plate, by the 'Zuid-Holland', factory designed by C. J. van der Hoef (1875-1933). Earthenware painted in underglaze blue and brown, 8.8 cm. high; 41.5 cm. diam. Gouda, c.1905. Purchased 1986. Inv. RBK 1986-13. Between 1900 and 1910 C. J. van der Hoef was one of the foremost Dutch designers of ceramics, working for many of the small factories active at the time. The dish shows his restrained geometric style, typical of a mainstream development in Dutch art nouveau.
Attributed works:
XXIV. Vase, by Emile Gallé (1846-1904). Glass, acid-etched, and enamelled in colours and gold, 42.6 by 21.3 cm. Nancy, c.1884. Purchased 1989. Inv. RBK 1989-2. The decoration, composed of a mixture of Arabic, Japanese, classical and gothic motifs, is typical of Gallé's work of the mid-1880s. The shape may have been inspired by Japanese ceramics.
Western art unattributed:
I. Madonna and child. Oak, having lost its original polychromy, 67 cm. high. Utrecht, or the province of Holland?, c.1470. Purchased 1987. Inv. RBK 1987-22. Utrecht was the main centre for sculpture in the Northern Netherlands, but this Madonna, which comes from a church near Hoorn, may well have been made in another northern town such as Haarlem.
Western art unattributed:
III. Funerary monument. Limestone, painted in colours and gilded, 51.7 by 37 cm. Southern Netherlandish, c.1520. Purchased in 1985 (on loan from the Rijksmuseum Foundation). Inv. RBK 1985-41. The Virgin and child are shown with Sts Benedict and Bernard, with Sts Peter, John the Baptist and Paul in the predella. The monument is unusual in that it follows the composition of many full-sized wooden altar-pieces, though in stone and on a small scale.
Western art unattributed:
IV. Tureen. Porcelain, painted in colours, 20.5 by 20.9 cm. Weesp c.1770; decorated in Loosdrecht, 1774. Purchased 1988 with the aid of a grant from the Rijksmuseum Foundation. Inv. RBK 1988-3. This tureen represents an experimental phase in the founding of the Loosdrecht factory (fl.1774-84). The porcelain was made at the Weesp factory (fl.1759-70/1) and bears its mark, the crossed swords with three dots in underglaze blue. The decoration was added in Loosdrecht, witness the overglaze brown mark Mol. and the date $17 frac{2}{19} 74$, i.e. one day before the official founding date of the Loosdrecht factory. The tureen was discovered during the preparation of an exhibition of Loosdrecht porcelain held at the Rijksmuseum in 1988.
Western art unattributed:
V. Wall-hangings, made into a screen. Gilt leather, each leaf measuring 238 by 61 cm. Dutch (probably Amsterdam), third quarter of the seventeenth century. Purchased 1985. Inv. RBK 1985-54. From the early seventeenth century both Amsterdam and The Hague were important centres for the production of gilt leather. This example, with scenes of Meleager and Atalanta, is typical of the third quarter of the century in its high relief and strong polychromy.
Western art unattributed:
VI. Cabinet on stand. Softwood, japanned and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, 186 by 159 cm. (?)Dutch, c.1700. Purchased 1985 (on loan from the Rijksmuseum Foundation). Inv. RBK 1985-25. The chinoiserie scenes are after illustrations in Joan Nieuhof's account of the first Dutch embassy to the Emperor of China, published in Amsterdam in 1665. The mother-of-pearl inlays simulate the gilt metal mounts usually found on Japanese lacquer cabinets.
Western art unattributed:
VII. Cupboard. Oak and (burr-) walnut, 245 by 197 cm. Dutch, mid-eighteenth century. Purchased in 1989 with the aid of a grant from the Rijksmuseum Foundation. Inv. RBK 1989-16. This is one of the most markedly rococo pieces of Dutch furniture known. Richly decorated with virtuoso carving, it unusually lacks any metal mounts. A closely related corner display cupboard was in the Rosebery collection at Mentmore Towers.
Western art unattributed:
VIII. Salt. Silver, partly gilt, 30.2 by 15.5 cm. Amsterdam, 1618. Purchased 1988, with the aid of grants from the Rembrandt Society, the Rijksmuseum Foundation and the Ministry of Culture. Inv. RBK 1988-15. This is the only Dutch seventeenth-century silver salt to survive together with its detachable cover. It forms part of a small group of similar triangular salts (shown together at an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in 1989). A design by the Utrecht artist Joachim Wtewael (1566-1638) for a similar piece, dated 1603 or 1608, is in the British Museum.
Western art unattributed:
XV. Layette cupboard on stand. Oak and walnut, 178 by 119 cm. (?)Amsterdam, third quarter of the seventeenth century. Purchased 1985. Inv. RBK 1985-10. Though the stand is one of the most vigorous examples of the auricular style, the cupboard itself, decorated with niches, shells and festoons, is in a more classical manner. Small cupboards such as this were used to store linen and other belongings of new-born babies.
Western art unattributed:
XVII. Tobacco-box. Silver, partly coloured, 2.5 by 12.4 cm. Dutch, second quarter of the eighteenth century. Presented by Mrs E. G. M. van den Honert-Wijers, Rijswijk, 1986. Inv. RBK 1986-27. The silver plaque set into the lid of this unmarked box is engraved with a bathing nymph. Parts of the scene have been coloured to resemble red and yellow copper and pewter. This unusual method of decoration creates the illusion of a mosaic composed of various metals. The inside of the lid shows the same scene in reverse.
Western art unattributed:
XXIII. Tea-caddy. Silver-gilt, 8.8 by 7.5 cm. Amsterdam, 1677. Presented by Mrs J. E. van Schendel-Reesink, Amsterdam, 1989. Inv. RBK 1989-28. This is the first known Amsterdam silver tea-caddy, and is a remarkably early example of Dutch cut cardwork. Similar naturalistic flowers in this technique occur on some pieces of Amsterdam silver dating from the 1690s. The high-relief floral decoration within shaped panels reflects Chinese influence.
