Silversmiths in the Land van Waas 1688-1869. A prosopographical study. This thesis investigates ... more Silversmiths in the Land van Waas 1688-1869. A prosopographical study. This thesis investigates developments in silversmithing in the rural and border region in the north of Flanders known as the Land van Waas in the period 1688-1869. In the first instance, a list was drawn up of all the silversmiths who were active in Beveren, Lokeren, Rupelmonde, Sint-Niklaas and Temse. The prosopographical study examined which factors – political, legal, social, demographic and economic – influenced the establishment and profitability of workshops in a rural context. In the second instance, the output of the silversmiths from the Land van Waas was charted on the basis of an examination of the records, the literature and the marks. As with the sale and distribution of their work, the technical and stylistic analysis of the objects found was compared to developments in the Southern Netherlands and Belgium, for silversmiths operated not only in an artistic context, but also in an economic reality of supply and demand.
The Belgian artist David Huycke is one of the most important silversmiths working today. He first... more The Belgian artist David Huycke is one of the most important silversmiths working today. He first made a name with his sets of dishes, simple design and subtle use of materials and is now best known for his innovative approach to the traditional technique of granulation. Huycke sets to work like a scientist or an alchemist, casting in moulds seemingly impossible concepts, incurring along the way risks such as breakage or collapse. Eventually those ideas and experiments are selected and elaborated into an object, where they exude a degree of stillness and have a natural implicitness, as if the work could not have been made any other way.
In deze bijdrage wordt vanuit Belgisch perspectief een repliek geboden op het artikel van Paul Re... more In deze bijdrage wordt vanuit Belgisch perspectief een repliek geboden op het artikel van Paul Rem in de 'Design Derby. Nederland België 1815-2015' : Kunstnijverheids-Koning Willem I vorstelijke opdrachten in het verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden 1815-1830.
This fully illustratted publication, edited by Jeroen Martens, sheds light on the cross-fertiliza... more This fully illustratted publication, edited by Jeroen Martens, sheds light on the cross-fertilization between the arts of drawing, sculpting and silversmithing in Antwerp and on the role the Academy played in this. 'Driven by talent' comes out to mark the 350th birthday of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2013. The first chapter focuses on 17th and 18th Antwerp silversmiths. They mastered drawing and modelling themselves or they worked closely with sculptors. A selection of the 229 recently discovered drawings, acquired by the Silver Museum Sterckshof, illustrates the second chapter on the Antwerp silversmith and chiseller Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen and provides insight into the nineteenth-century design practice. Finally the work of Wim ibens and (former) students of the Academy trace developments in silversmithing after 1968.
Publication by the Province of East-Flanders on the use and production of European silver windmil... more Publication by the Province of East-Flanders on the use and production of European silver windmill and watermill cups from the 16th to the 18th century, including an inventory of preserved examples from Flanders (Antwerp, Leuven), Germany (Augsburg, Nürnberg, Münster, ...), the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, ...), Austria (Wien), Poland (Gdansk) and Denmark (Kopenhagen).
Overvloedig geïllustreerde tentoonstellings- en bezitscatalogus van het Belgische art-nouveau- en... more Overvloedig geïllustreerde tentoonstellings- en bezitscatalogus van het Belgische art-nouveau- en art-decozilver van het Zilvermuseum Sterckshof, nu DIVA. Bevat naast catalogus ook introductietekst Zilverdesign ‘Made in Belgium’ 1885–1945, merkenrepertorium en biografisch repertorium ontwerpers en producenten.
Exhibition catalogue with an overview of the production, marks and biographies of silversmiths of... more Exhibition catalogue with an overview of the production, marks and biographies of silversmiths of Beveren, Lokeren, Rupelmonde, Sint-Niklaas and Temse between c. 1700 and 1869.
Exhibition catalogue on the Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis as purveyor of the dutch ... more Exhibition catalogue on the Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis as purveyor of the dutch King, William I. Including following article: Pierre Gabriël Germain en Joseph Germain Dutalis: edelsmeden te Brussel (p. 16–60) and the catalogue raisonné of Pierre Gabriël Germain (1755-1814) and Joseph Germain Dutalis (1780-1852).
The impact of the Eléments d’Orfèvrerie (1748) by Pierre Germain on the development of silversmit... more The impact of the Eléments d’Orfèvrerie (1748) by Pierre Germain on the development of silversmithing in the Austrian Netherlands
Only once ornament prints by Pierre Germain (1703-1783) dit le Romain could be traced with some reserve in the collection of a silversmith in the Southern Netherlands. After the death of silversmith, engraver and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) a copy of his Eléments d’Orfèvrerie was auctioned in Ghent. Annotated versions of this publication or drawings after the ornament prints could yet not be connected to silversmiths form the Austrian Netherlands. At first sight the impact of this series of prints, first published in 1748 and of which many reprints were published in 18th-century and early 19th-century Paris, is marginal, but surviving examples of silver tableware and cult objects made in Brussels, Ath, Mons and Diest in the years 1760 and 1770 are suggesting that several silversmiths probably had this source material at hand. They did not follow the models slavishly, but used it as a source of inspiration. Via diverse channels they were aware of the availability of this type of print series. Advertisements in for example the Mercure de France and printed catalogues of publishers and book sellers are a good proof of that. Maybe the reproduction of some of the designs by Pierre Germain in the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d’Alembert had with some delay also impact. Copies and imitations published in Augsburg, Nuremberg or even London could have been of influence. Diverse sources are confirming that silversmiths based in the Austrian Netherlands had direct contact or via agents with the foreign production centers mentioned. We cannot exclude that silversmiths companions from Antwerp, Bruges, Tournai, Leuven, Mons and Namur who worked in Paris at that time had early access to this sources. The edition of this series, published in several issues, was not only intended for craftsmen or artists, but had also amateurs or potential patrons in mind. It is unsure, but cannot be ruled out that silverwork made by Pierre Germain and by extension by Thomas Germain (1726-1791) or Jacques Roëttiers (1707-1784), both silversmiths of the French Royal Court, in the possession of authorities or prominent families in the Austrian Netherlands could have been of influence on local silversmiths. Based on some probate inventories of wealthy Antwerp families it is stated that they commissioned tableware in their hometown in addition to French silver in their possession.
This lecture about the silver treasury in the St. Pauls in Antwerp, together with some silver obj... more This lecture about the silver treasury in the St. Pauls in Antwerp, together with some silver objects linked to the history of St. Pauls, gives insight in some aspects of Antwerp baroque silver: anonymus gifts and silver offered to the St. Pauls church, cult objects from the former St. Walburgis church, the relationship between the unidentified Antwerp silversmith known as the Master with pear on the one side and sculptor Artus II Quellinus on the other side, silverware ordered by the Brotherhood of the Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus and the Brotherhood of the Rosary and the impact of the Dominicans Dominicus van Ketweg and Ambrosius Capello in the creation and production process of silver objects for the St. Pauls church.
Sculptor Artus I Quellinus has made several models for pewter and silver objects. Painter Erasmus... more Sculptor Artus I Quellinus has made several models for pewter and silver objects. Painter Erasmus II and sculptor Artus II Quellinus were also involved in the production of Antwerp baroque silverware; e.g. for a silver antependium commissioned by Andries van Cantelbeeck in 1675 to silversmith Wierick Somers. This case, together with some preserved designs and a 17th century terracotta model for a cruet stand, illustrates very well the different roles within the creation and production process of Antwerp silver. The family network is another factor of importance. The sculptors Peeter II and Henricus Franciscus Verbrugghen, both sons of Cornelia Quellinus, have made several designs for silverware. Gold- and silverware were also playing an important iconographic role in the paintings by Erasmus II Quellinus. Guilliam Gabron, the brother in law of Artus II Quellinus, was even specialized in still life paintings with gold- and silverware as main subject.
Dès 1428 les meilleurs étudiants des quatre collèges de l’université de Louvain s’affrontaient ch... more Dès 1428 les meilleurs étudiants des quatre collèges de l’université de Louvain s’affrontaient chaque année dans une compétition académique. Aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles le lauréat triomphant lors de ces joutes, ou le « Primus », comme l’on l’appelait, était couvert de présents en argent. Les nombreux cadeaux offerts aux Primus, les entrées joyeuses et les fêtes consécutives que leur réservait la ville natale sont dans de nombreux cas bien documentés. Une grande partie de l’orfèvrerie donnée par des conseils municipaux ou régionaux, ou par le gouvernement central, d’un côté, et par les collèges latins, les corporations et les sociétés, de l’autre, a été préservé jusqu’à ce jour. Elle souligne l’importance de ces dons et la stratigraphie sociale des lauréats. Nous connaissons entre autres des exemples de Bruges, Breda, Gand, Liège, Maastricht, Mons et Tournai. Une étude approfondie de ce sujet montre clairement que la plupart des lauréats (dans 36 des 62 cas documentés) a reçu de la vaisselle en argent et notamment une aiguière (avec son bassin), ce qui était au XVIIe siècle le cadeau de préférence offert aux diplomates. Vu les circonstances – contraintes de temps et exigences financières – dans certains cas la livraison et la présentation des cadeaux n’était point une évidence. Parfois l’on a donné des objets d’occasion ou l’on n’a pu présenter en premier lieu qu’un dessin préparatoire du cadeau prévu. L’orfèvrerie – ornée de chronogrammes, chiffres et écussons ciselés ou gravés¬ – représente bien plus qu’une valeur monétaire. Le don, faisant partie d’une cérémonie officielle, met en valeur d’une part le prestige de la famille et l’éducation du lauréat, et de l’autre la prospérité et le pouvoir de sa ville ou sa région natale. Les conseils municipaux et régionaux souhaitaient notamment attacher le lauréat à leur pouvoir, misant sur la forte probabilité que le Primus tiendrait un jour une position d’importance, comme par exemple avocat du Conseil de Flandre ou évêque.
Faute d'une étude profonde sur le rococo dans le domaine de l'orfèvrerie 'belge - except un artic... more Faute d'une étude profonde sur le rococo dans le domaine de l'orfèvrerie 'belge - except un article du professeur Pierre Colman publié en 1991 - ce n'est pas évident d'évaluer les origines et la diffusion du rococo aux Pays-Bas Méridionaux. Est-ce que c'est du rococo tardif, provincial ou original? Des recherches/études récent(e)s ont emané(e)s/relevé(e)s des résultats primaires sur la formation et les sources d'orfèvres 'belges' à l'un côté et la distribution de leur oeuvre à l'autre côté. Qui sont les orfèvres qui travaillent au dernier goût? Est-ce qu'il y a une discrépantion entre l'orfèvrerie de table plutôt traditionel et les jolités ou objets de vertu modernes souvent importés?
Quel sont les liens entre Jean-Henry Liénard, Petrus Simon Hoffinger et Jean-Baptiste Verberckt à Anvers, Lambertus Millé à Bruxelles, Franciscus Nijs à Tamise et Antoine-Constant de Bettignies à Mons à l'un côté et Jacques Verberckt, sculpteur de la cour française, les recueils d'orfèvrerie de Germain, Meissonnier et Habermann publiés à Paris et Augsbourg, le magasin à la Mode de Paris à Anvers, les marchands d'estampes et graveurs comme Fruijtiers et Heylbrouck à l'autre côté?
Les (livres d’) estampes ont souvent inspiré les orfèvres et joailliers et leur distribution a jo... more Les (livres d’) estampes ont souvent inspiré les orfèvres et joailliers et leur distribution a joué un rôle important dans la diffusion du goût français aux Pays-Bas méridionaux au XVIIIe et au début du XIXe siècle. Comme c’est le cas à Paris à l’époque Empire, la plupart des listes de livres dans les inventaires après décès d’orfèvres sont trop sommaires pour nous renseigner exactement sur leur collection (de livres) d’estampes. Néanmoins quelques exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par exemple un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des reproductions de l’œuvre d’un sculpteur comme Bouchardon et d’un peintre comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée de ces collections? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que les estampes font partie d’une collection d’art? De plus, on peut se demander si les catalogues de vente après décès représentent toujours uniquement la collection du défunt. Ou renferment-ils quelquefois des estampes d’une autre origine? Si éventuellement l’atelier est repris par la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon de l’orfèvre, la collection d’estampes n’est elle peut-être pas incorporée dans la vente?
Néanmoins les exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par example un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des réproductions d’œuvres d’art de sculpteurs comme Bouchardon et de peintres comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée des collections d’estampes? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que c’est une partie d’une collection d’art? En plus on doit se demander que les catalogues de vente après décès ne sont pas manipulés? Est-ce qu’il y a des (livres d’) estampes qui ne proviennent pas du fonds de l’atelier ou de la collection du défunt? Et souvent ils manquent des estampes quand la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon d’orfèvre a répris l’atelier.
Les collections de Michel François t’Sas, maître orfèvre à Bruxelles dès 1736 et Jouaillier de S.A.R. le Duc Charles de Lorraine, et de Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810), dessinateur, graveur et orfèvre-ciseleur à Gand, sont vendues respectivement en 1768 et 1813. Les titres des catalogues de vente indiquent que ce ne sont pas des fonds d’ateliers, mais en premier lieu des collections d’art. Le premier catalogue de vente, rédigé par le peintre Jan Lauwrijn Krafft (*1694), porte le titre Catalogue d’une très belle collection des estampes, desseins et planches de cuivre des premiers Maîtres Italiens, Francois & Flamands. Rassemblés avec grand soin & fraix (…). La collection de feu Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien, maître orfèvre et amateur, est décrite comme une riche et précieuse collection de livres, estampes en feuilles et encadrées, livres d’estampes, dessins, etc., mais le catalogue mentionne aussi des outils d’orfèvre.
This article gives an idea of the intense co-operation between Antwerp silversmiths and sculptors... more This article gives an idea of the intense co-operation between Antwerp silversmiths and sculptors in the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. Designs and models for silverware were made by the most excellent Antwerp baroque sculptors, such as Artus II Quellinus, Michiel van der Voort and Henricus Franciscus Verbrugghen, and often inspired by paintings of Pieter Paul Rubens and Erasmus Quellinus. Around 1700 silversmiths learned to draw and model in the workshop of sculptors such as Joannes Claudius de Cock. The case of Rogiers, with Theodoor I Rogiers as most eminent example, illustrates the importance of the social and professional network of Antwerp silversmiths and the appreciation of their works of art in the seventeenth century.
Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design, 2022
Biographical repertories, collection catalogues of ornament prints and surveys of the history of ... more Biographical repertories, collection catalogues of ornament prints and surveys of the history of jewellery often refer to Joannes Baptista Grondoni (1680-1738) as Italian or Genoese. However, recent biographical research revealed that this apothecary’s son was born and bred in Brussels. He can also be linked to the (de) Cachiopin, Goubau and Picquery families who were active in the jewellery industry in both Antwerp and Brussels. The facts that the Genoese painter Giovanni Battista Grondone was a contemporary and that the oldest known series of prints by Joannes Baptista Grondoni carries an Italian title may have added to the confusion. This article provides both a local and an international context to his two series of ornament prints, both published in Brussels, viz. the Principÿ per l’arte de gli orefeci (1709) and Aulæ Bavariæ Magnificentia (1715), the latter dedicated to the Elector Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria. The focus here lies on his collaboration with respectively the designer Richard van Orley, the engravers Joannes Baptiste Berterham and Gillis de Backer, the bookseller Joseph t’Serstevens, the silversmith Peeter Schrijnmaeckers, and the diamond polisher Cornelis Franciscus Lambrechts, and the connection with the Livre Dorfeferie (1710) by the Brussels goldsmith’s apprentice Noë Pauwels along with the herald’s staff that he produced in the period 1715-1717. Furthermore, Grondoni combined the jewellery trade with the art trade, just like the Brussels court jeweller François Nicolas Lemmens. This essay represents a first attempt to link some jewels, often not hallmarked, with Grondoni’s published oeuvre. An important fact in this context is that for at least seventeen years his teacher and uncle Niklaas de Cachiopin sr (†1714) is known to have supplied from Brussels jewels and diamonds set in gold in the Spanish manner to a female merchant in Cadiz. Important from a technical, typological and stylistic viewpoint was the publication of series of instructive prints aimed at goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers. Paris played an significant role in this, but Nuremberg and Augsburg also had a major international impact as centres of production of goldsmith’s work and ornamental prints during the 17th and 18th centuries. Such prints were also published in Rome, Vienna, London, Amsterdam and Brussels in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, often with elements from earlier prints being copied at will. This makes it difficult to determine who owes what to whom. Publications and print series by David Baumann, Jean Bourguet, Briceau, Carlo Ciampoli, Daniel de Lafeuille, Johann Wilhelm Heel, Jean Quien and Wolfgang Hieronymus von Bömmel were potential sources of inspiration for or in competition with the work by Joannes Baptista Grondoni and Noë Pauwels. Preserved prints from the Principÿ per l’arte de gli orefeci and Aulæ Bavariæ Magnificentia have been used here to trace the different editions of these series. Combined with mentions in auction catalogues the provenance of these prints offers a first glimps of their status as collector’s items, objects of study or potential sources of inspiration. For example, the Antwerp silversmith Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen (1801-1865) possessed a copy of the Principÿ and we know that in the 18th century a certain (as yet unidentified) J:P: Mesurolle owned at least one print from the Aulæ Bavariæ.
Curieux d'estampes. Collections et collectionneurs de gravures en Europe (1500-1815), 2022
Dans l’ensemble, force est de constater que nous ne disposons que de très peu de détails sur les ... more Dans l’ensemble, force est de constater que nous ne disposons que de très peu de détails sur les estampes d’ornements, livres de modèles ou manuels que possédaient les orfèvres et joailliers des Pays-Bas méridionaux. Dans les inventaires, ils sont simplement mentionnés, pour la bonne raison qu’ils étaient considérés comme faisant partie des outils de travail destinés à s’inspirer ou comme aide-mémoire. Des outils de travail qui, souvent pendant des générations, se transmettaient d’orfèvre en orfèvre, de père en fils, de maître en compagnon. Ce n’est que lorsque ces estampes et livres d’estampes étaient mis en vente qu’on en apprenait un peu plus long à leur sujet. Encore faut-il dans ce cas faire preuve de prudence. Premièrement, les estampes pouvaient faire partie du fonds de commerce de l’orfèvre. Deuxièmement, dans certains cas, elles n’étaient pas des outils de travail, mais des objets collectionnés par l’orfèvre. Et enfin il arrivait qu’après la mort de l’orfèvre, ses héritiers, les exécuteurs testamentaires ou les commissaires-priseurs ajoutent des estampes ou livres d’estampes ne lui appartenant pas ou, au contraire, retirent de la vente ceux qui, par un autre biais, avaient déjà trouvé un nouveau destinataire. Les catalogues de vente de t’Sas et Tiberghien illustrent fort bien ces mécanismes. Mais à ce jour le nombre de catalogues de vente connus des orfèvres des Pays-Bas méridionaux ne suffit pas à tirer des conclusions définitives. Nous espérons retrouver encore d’autres exemples nous permettant d’y voir plus clair, comme le catalogue des livres de Beghin que l’on a découvert récemment. Sur le plan iconographique, les œuvres graphiques de Rubens et, dans son sillage, les estampes d’après les œuvres de Van Dyck sont, au XVIIIe siècle, encore un facteur important, non seulement de par leur nombre mais aussi en termes de marketing des ventes. Les quelques rares références concrètes aux estampes d’ornements ou modèles de Lepautre, Germain, Babel et Forty confirment la thèse communément admise selon laquelle le style français a eu une énorme influence sur le développement de l’art de l’orfèvrerie dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux. Hormis une série d’estampes de Heylbrouck et bien sûr celles gravées par Tiberghien lui-même, on n’a retrouvé aucune trace d’estampes d’ornements flamandes du XVIIIe siècle.
For the most part, few if any details are forthcoming about the existence of ornament prints, pat... more For the most part, few if any details are forthcoming about the existence of ornament prints, pattern-books and handbooks in the workshops of silversmiths and jewellers in the long eighteenth century. They were omitted from inventories because they were work-related material that was used as a source of inspiration or mnemonic. That work-related material was often passed down for generations from silversmith to silversmith, from father to son and from master to journeyman. Only in the event of a (public) sale do more details sometimes come to light, but then a degree of caution is necessary for several reasons: 1. the prints may have been a business asset of the silversmith who was working as an art or print dealer; 2. in a number of cases the prints were included in their art collection not as work-related material, but as collectables; 3. a number of prints were sometimes added posthumously by heirs, the executors of wills or auctioneers. T’Sas’ and Tiberghien’s auction catalogues illustrate these mechanisms well, but at the moment the number of known auction catalogues of silversmiths from the Southern Netherlands is too limited to allow us to draw any definitive conclusions.
It is to be hoped, however, that as in the case of the recovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin, more examples will emerge and shed further light on the subject. On an iconographic level, prints after the oeuvre of Rubens and in his footsteps prints after Van Dyck, still played an important role in the eighteenth century, not only in terms of quantity but also as a marketing instrument for auctions. The rare references to specific ornament prints and designs by Le Pautre, Germain, Babel and Forty confirm the generally accepted proposition that the French style had a great influence on the development of silversmithing in the Southern or Austrian Netherlands. With the exception of a set by Heylbrouck from Ghent, no eighteenth-century Flemish ornament prints were mentioned.
Juventutis Dux, Juris Doctor. Liber amicorum amicarumque Jozef Dauwe, 2021
This article on the Eléments d'Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain, published in 1748 in Paris, is an ad... more This article on the Eléments d'Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain, published in 1748 in Paris, is an adapted version of the lecture presented at the Koninklijke Academie voor Oudheidkunde van België in Brussels on the 17th of October 2020.
Two short articles on acquisitions by the museum DIVA in Antwerp: one on a rare print, part of a ... more Two short articles on acquisitions by the museum DIVA in Antwerp: one on a rare print, part of a series published by the Brussels jeweller Joannes Baptista Grondoni (1680-1738) dedicated to Max Emanuel van Beieren (1662-1726) and another on the publication 'Eléments d'Orfèvrerie' by the Parisian goldsmith Pierre Germain (1703-1783).
Silversmiths in the Land van Waas 1688-1869. A prosopographical study. This thesis investigates ... more Silversmiths in the Land van Waas 1688-1869. A prosopographical study. This thesis investigates developments in silversmithing in the rural and border region in the north of Flanders known as the Land van Waas in the period 1688-1869. In the first instance, a list was drawn up of all the silversmiths who were active in Beveren, Lokeren, Rupelmonde, Sint-Niklaas and Temse. The prosopographical study examined which factors – political, legal, social, demographic and economic – influenced the establishment and profitability of workshops in a rural context. In the second instance, the output of the silversmiths from the Land van Waas was charted on the basis of an examination of the records, the literature and the marks. As with the sale and distribution of their work, the technical and stylistic analysis of the objects found was compared to developments in the Southern Netherlands and Belgium, for silversmiths operated not only in an artistic context, but also in an economic reality of supply and demand.
The Belgian artist David Huycke is one of the most important silversmiths working today. He first... more The Belgian artist David Huycke is one of the most important silversmiths working today. He first made a name with his sets of dishes, simple design and subtle use of materials and is now best known for his innovative approach to the traditional technique of granulation. Huycke sets to work like a scientist or an alchemist, casting in moulds seemingly impossible concepts, incurring along the way risks such as breakage or collapse. Eventually those ideas and experiments are selected and elaborated into an object, where they exude a degree of stillness and have a natural implicitness, as if the work could not have been made any other way.
In deze bijdrage wordt vanuit Belgisch perspectief een repliek geboden op het artikel van Paul Re... more In deze bijdrage wordt vanuit Belgisch perspectief een repliek geboden op het artikel van Paul Rem in de 'Design Derby. Nederland België 1815-2015' : Kunstnijverheids-Koning Willem I vorstelijke opdrachten in het verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden 1815-1830.
This fully illustratted publication, edited by Jeroen Martens, sheds light on the cross-fertiliza... more This fully illustratted publication, edited by Jeroen Martens, sheds light on the cross-fertilization between the arts of drawing, sculpting and silversmithing in Antwerp and on the role the Academy played in this. 'Driven by talent' comes out to mark the 350th birthday of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2013. The first chapter focuses on 17th and 18th Antwerp silversmiths. They mastered drawing and modelling themselves or they worked closely with sculptors. A selection of the 229 recently discovered drawings, acquired by the Silver Museum Sterckshof, illustrates the second chapter on the Antwerp silversmith and chiseller Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen and provides insight into the nineteenth-century design practice. Finally the work of Wim ibens and (former) students of the Academy trace developments in silversmithing after 1968.
Publication by the Province of East-Flanders on the use and production of European silver windmil... more Publication by the Province of East-Flanders on the use and production of European silver windmill and watermill cups from the 16th to the 18th century, including an inventory of preserved examples from Flanders (Antwerp, Leuven), Germany (Augsburg, Nürnberg, Münster, ...), the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, ...), Austria (Wien), Poland (Gdansk) and Denmark (Kopenhagen).
Overvloedig geïllustreerde tentoonstellings- en bezitscatalogus van het Belgische art-nouveau- en... more Overvloedig geïllustreerde tentoonstellings- en bezitscatalogus van het Belgische art-nouveau- en art-decozilver van het Zilvermuseum Sterckshof, nu DIVA. Bevat naast catalogus ook introductietekst Zilverdesign ‘Made in Belgium’ 1885–1945, merkenrepertorium en biografisch repertorium ontwerpers en producenten.
Exhibition catalogue with an overview of the production, marks and biographies of silversmiths of... more Exhibition catalogue with an overview of the production, marks and biographies of silversmiths of Beveren, Lokeren, Rupelmonde, Sint-Niklaas and Temse between c. 1700 and 1869.
Exhibition catalogue on the Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis as purveyor of the dutch ... more Exhibition catalogue on the Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis as purveyor of the dutch King, William I. Including following article: Pierre Gabriël Germain en Joseph Germain Dutalis: edelsmeden te Brussel (p. 16–60) and the catalogue raisonné of Pierre Gabriël Germain (1755-1814) and Joseph Germain Dutalis (1780-1852).
The impact of the Eléments d’Orfèvrerie (1748) by Pierre Germain on the development of silversmit... more The impact of the Eléments d’Orfèvrerie (1748) by Pierre Germain on the development of silversmithing in the Austrian Netherlands
Only once ornament prints by Pierre Germain (1703-1783) dit le Romain could be traced with some reserve in the collection of a silversmith in the Southern Netherlands. After the death of silversmith, engraver and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) a copy of his Eléments d’Orfèvrerie was auctioned in Ghent. Annotated versions of this publication or drawings after the ornament prints could yet not be connected to silversmiths form the Austrian Netherlands. At first sight the impact of this series of prints, first published in 1748 and of which many reprints were published in 18th-century and early 19th-century Paris, is marginal, but surviving examples of silver tableware and cult objects made in Brussels, Ath, Mons and Diest in the years 1760 and 1770 are suggesting that several silversmiths probably had this source material at hand. They did not follow the models slavishly, but used it as a source of inspiration. Via diverse channels they were aware of the availability of this type of print series. Advertisements in for example the Mercure de France and printed catalogues of publishers and book sellers are a good proof of that. Maybe the reproduction of some of the designs by Pierre Germain in the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d’Alembert had with some delay also impact. Copies and imitations published in Augsburg, Nuremberg or even London could have been of influence. Diverse sources are confirming that silversmiths based in the Austrian Netherlands had direct contact or via agents with the foreign production centers mentioned. We cannot exclude that silversmiths companions from Antwerp, Bruges, Tournai, Leuven, Mons and Namur who worked in Paris at that time had early access to this sources. The edition of this series, published in several issues, was not only intended for craftsmen or artists, but had also amateurs or potential patrons in mind. It is unsure, but cannot be ruled out that silverwork made by Pierre Germain and by extension by Thomas Germain (1726-1791) or Jacques Roëttiers (1707-1784), both silversmiths of the French Royal Court, in the possession of authorities or prominent families in the Austrian Netherlands could have been of influence on local silversmiths. Based on some probate inventories of wealthy Antwerp families it is stated that they commissioned tableware in their hometown in addition to French silver in their possession.
This lecture about the silver treasury in the St. Pauls in Antwerp, together with some silver obj... more This lecture about the silver treasury in the St. Pauls in Antwerp, together with some silver objects linked to the history of St. Pauls, gives insight in some aspects of Antwerp baroque silver: anonymus gifts and silver offered to the St. Pauls church, cult objects from the former St. Walburgis church, the relationship between the unidentified Antwerp silversmith known as the Master with pear on the one side and sculptor Artus II Quellinus on the other side, silverware ordered by the Brotherhood of the Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus and the Brotherhood of the Rosary and the impact of the Dominicans Dominicus van Ketweg and Ambrosius Capello in the creation and production process of silver objects for the St. Pauls church.
Sculptor Artus I Quellinus has made several models for pewter and silver objects. Painter Erasmus... more Sculptor Artus I Quellinus has made several models for pewter and silver objects. Painter Erasmus II and sculptor Artus II Quellinus were also involved in the production of Antwerp baroque silverware; e.g. for a silver antependium commissioned by Andries van Cantelbeeck in 1675 to silversmith Wierick Somers. This case, together with some preserved designs and a 17th century terracotta model for a cruet stand, illustrates very well the different roles within the creation and production process of Antwerp silver. The family network is another factor of importance. The sculptors Peeter II and Henricus Franciscus Verbrugghen, both sons of Cornelia Quellinus, have made several designs for silverware. Gold- and silverware were also playing an important iconographic role in the paintings by Erasmus II Quellinus. Guilliam Gabron, the brother in law of Artus II Quellinus, was even specialized in still life paintings with gold- and silverware as main subject.
Dès 1428 les meilleurs étudiants des quatre collèges de l’université de Louvain s’affrontaient ch... more Dès 1428 les meilleurs étudiants des quatre collèges de l’université de Louvain s’affrontaient chaque année dans une compétition académique. Aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles le lauréat triomphant lors de ces joutes, ou le « Primus », comme l’on l’appelait, était couvert de présents en argent. Les nombreux cadeaux offerts aux Primus, les entrées joyeuses et les fêtes consécutives que leur réservait la ville natale sont dans de nombreux cas bien documentés. Une grande partie de l’orfèvrerie donnée par des conseils municipaux ou régionaux, ou par le gouvernement central, d’un côté, et par les collèges latins, les corporations et les sociétés, de l’autre, a été préservé jusqu’à ce jour. Elle souligne l’importance de ces dons et la stratigraphie sociale des lauréats. Nous connaissons entre autres des exemples de Bruges, Breda, Gand, Liège, Maastricht, Mons et Tournai. Une étude approfondie de ce sujet montre clairement que la plupart des lauréats (dans 36 des 62 cas documentés) a reçu de la vaisselle en argent et notamment une aiguière (avec son bassin), ce qui était au XVIIe siècle le cadeau de préférence offert aux diplomates. Vu les circonstances – contraintes de temps et exigences financières – dans certains cas la livraison et la présentation des cadeaux n’était point une évidence. Parfois l’on a donné des objets d’occasion ou l’on n’a pu présenter en premier lieu qu’un dessin préparatoire du cadeau prévu. L’orfèvrerie – ornée de chronogrammes, chiffres et écussons ciselés ou gravés¬ – représente bien plus qu’une valeur monétaire. Le don, faisant partie d’une cérémonie officielle, met en valeur d’une part le prestige de la famille et l’éducation du lauréat, et de l’autre la prospérité et le pouvoir de sa ville ou sa région natale. Les conseils municipaux et régionaux souhaitaient notamment attacher le lauréat à leur pouvoir, misant sur la forte probabilité que le Primus tiendrait un jour une position d’importance, comme par exemple avocat du Conseil de Flandre ou évêque.
Faute d'une étude profonde sur le rococo dans le domaine de l'orfèvrerie 'belge - except un artic... more Faute d'une étude profonde sur le rococo dans le domaine de l'orfèvrerie 'belge - except un article du professeur Pierre Colman publié en 1991 - ce n'est pas évident d'évaluer les origines et la diffusion du rococo aux Pays-Bas Méridionaux. Est-ce que c'est du rococo tardif, provincial ou original? Des recherches/études récent(e)s ont emané(e)s/relevé(e)s des résultats primaires sur la formation et les sources d'orfèvres 'belges' à l'un côté et la distribution de leur oeuvre à l'autre côté. Qui sont les orfèvres qui travaillent au dernier goût? Est-ce qu'il y a une discrépantion entre l'orfèvrerie de table plutôt traditionel et les jolités ou objets de vertu modernes souvent importés?
Quel sont les liens entre Jean-Henry Liénard, Petrus Simon Hoffinger et Jean-Baptiste Verberckt à Anvers, Lambertus Millé à Bruxelles, Franciscus Nijs à Tamise et Antoine-Constant de Bettignies à Mons à l'un côté et Jacques Verberckt, sculpteur de la cour française, les recueils d'orfèvrerie de Germain, Meissonnier et Habermann publiés à Paris et Augsbourg, le magasin à la Mode de Paris à Anvers, les marchands d'estampes et graveurs comme Fruijtiers et Heylbrouck à l'autre côté?
Les (livres d’) estampes ont souvent inspiré les orfèvres et joailliers et leur distribution a jo... more Les (livres d’) estampes ont souvent inspiré les orfèvres et joailliers et leur distribution a joué un rôle important dans la diffusion du goût français aux Pays-Bas méridionaux au XVIIIe et au début du XIXe siècle. Comme c’est le cas à Paris à l’époque Empire, la plupart des listes de livres dans les inventaires après décès d’orfèvres sont trop sommaires pour nous renseigner exactement sur leur collection (de livres) d’estampes. Néanmoins quelques exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par exemple un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des reproductions de l’œuvre d’un sculpteur comme Bouchardon et d’un peintre comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée de ces collections? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que les estampes font partie d’une collection d’art? De plus, on peut se demander si les catalogues de vente après décès représentent toujours uniquement la collection du défunt. Ou renferment-ils quelquefois des estampes d’une autre origine? Si éventuellement l’atelier est repris par la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon de l’orfèvre, la collection d’estampes n’est elle peut-être pas incorporée dans la vente?
Néanmoins les exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par example un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des réproductions d’œuvres d’art de sculpteurs comme Bouchardon et de peintres comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée des collections d’estampes? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que c’est une partie d’une collection d’art? En plus on doit se demander que les catalogues de vente après décès ne sont pas manipulés? Est-ce qu’il y a des (livres d’) estampes qui ne proviennent pas du fonds de l’atelier ou de la collection du défunt? Et souvent ils manquent des estampes quand la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon d’orfèvre a répris l’atelier.
Les collections de Michel François t’Sas, maître orfèvre à Bruxelles dès 1736 et Jouaillier de S.A.R. le Duc Charles de Lorraine, et de Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810), dessinateur, graveur et orfèvre-ciseleur à Gand, sont vendues respectivement en 1768 et 1813. Les titres des catalogues de vente indiquent que ce ne sont pas des fonds d’ateliers, mais en premier lieu des collections d’art. Le premier catalogue de vente, rédigé par le peintre Jan Lauwrijn Krafft (*1694), porte le titre Catalogue d’une très belle collection des estampes, desseins et planches de cuivre des premiers Maîtres Italiens, Francois & Flamands. Rassemblés avec grand soin & fraix (…). La collection de feu Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien, maître orfèvre et amateur, est décrite comme une riche et précieuse collection de livres, estampes en feuilles et encadrées, livres d’estampes, dessins, etc., mais le catalogue mentionne aussi des outils d’orfèvre.
This article gives an idea of the intense co-operation between Antwerp silversmiths and sculptors... more This article gives an idea of the intense co-operation between Antwerp silversmiths and sculptors in the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. Designs and models for silverware were made by the most excellent Antwerp baroque sculptors, such as Artus II Quellinus, Michiel van der Voort and Henricus Franciscus Verbrugghen, and often inspired by paintings of Pieter Paul Rubens and Erasmus Quellinus. Around 1700 silversmiths learned to draw and model in the workshop of sculptors such as Joannes Claudius de Cock. The case of Rogiers, with Theodoor I Rogiers as most eminent example, illustrates the importance of the social and professional network of Antwerp silversmiths and the appreciation of their works of art in the seventeenth century.
Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design, 2022
Biographical repertories, collection catalogues of ornament prints and surveys of the history of ... more Biographical repertories, collection catalogues of ornament prints and surveys of the history of jewellery often refer to Joannes Baptista Grondoni (1680-1738) as Italian or Genoese. However, recent biographical research revealed that this apothecary’s son was born and bred in Brussels. He can also be linked to the (de) Cachiopin, Goubau and Picquery families who were active in the jewellery industry in both Antwerp and Brussels. The facts that the Genoese painter Giovanni Battista Grondone was a contemporary and that the oldest known series of prints by Joannes Baptista Grondoni carries an Italian title may have added to the confusion. This article provides both a local and an international context to his two series of ornament prints, both published in Brussels, viz. the Principÿ per l’arte de gli orefeci (1709) and Aulæ Bavariæ Magnificentia (1715), the latter dedicated to the Elector Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria. The focus here lies on his collaboration with respectively the designer Richard van Orley, the engravers Joannes Baptiste Berterham and Gillis de Backer, the bookseller Joseph t’Serstevens, the silversmith Peeter Schrijnmaeckers, and the diamond polisher Cornelis Franciscus Lambrechts, and the connection with the Livre Dorfeferie (1710) by the Brussels goldsmith’s apprentice Noë Pauwels along with the herald’s staff that he produced in the period 1715-1717. Furthermore, Grondoni combined the jewellery trade with the art trade, just like the Brussels court jeweller François Nicolas Lemmens. This essay represents a first attempt to link some jewels, often not hallmarked, with Grondoni’s published oeuvre. An important fact in this context is that for at least seventeen years his teacher and uncle Niklaas de Cachiopin sr (†1714) is known to have supplied from Brussels jewels and diamonds set in gold in the Spanish manner to a female merchant in Cadiz. Important from a technical, typological and stylistic viewpoint was the publication of series of instructive prints aimed at goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers. Paris played an significant role in this, but Nuremberg and Augsburg also had a major international impact as centres of production of goldsmith’s work and ornamental prints during the 17th and 18th centuries. Such prints were also published in Rome, Vienna, London, Amsterdam and Brussels in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, often with elements from earlier prints being copied at will. This makes it difficult to determine who owes what to whom. Publications and print series by David Baumann, Jean Bourguet, Briceau, Carlo Ciampoli, Daniel de Lafeuille, Johann Wilhelm Heel, Jean Quien and Wolfgang Hieronymus von Bömmel were potential sources of inspiration for or in competition with the work by Joannes Baptista Grondoni and Noë Pauwels. Preserved prints from the Principÿ per l’arte de gli orefeci and Aulæ Bavariæ Magnificentia have been used here to trace the different editions of these series. Combined with mentions in auction catalogues the provenance of these prints offers a first glimps of their status as collector’s items, objects of study or potential sources of inspiration. For example, the Antwerp silversmith Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen (1801-1865) possessed a copy of the Principÿ and we know that in the 18th century a certain (as yet unidentified) J:P: Mesurolle owned at least one print from the Aulæ Bavariæ.
Curieux d'estampes. Collections et collectionneurs de gravures en Europe (1500-1815), 2022
Dans l’ensemble, force est de constater que nous ne disposons que de très peu de détails sur les ... more Dans l’ensemble, force est de constater que nous ne disposons que de très peu de détails sur les estampes d’ornements, livres de modèles ou manuels que possédaient les orfèvres et joailliers des Pays-Bas méridionaux. Dans les inventaires, ils sont simplement mentionnés, pour la bonne raison qu’ils étaient considérés comme faisant partie des outils de travail destinés à s’inspirer ou comme aide-mémoire. Des outils de travail qui, souvent pendant des générations, se transmettaient d’orfèvre en orfèvre, de père en fils, de maître en compagnon. Ce n’est que lorsque ces estampes et livres d’estampes étaient mis en vente qu’on en apprenait un peu plus long à leur sujet. Encore faut-il dans ce cas faire preuve de prudence. Premièrement, les estampes pouvaient faire partie du fonds de commerce de l’orfèvre. Deuxièmement, dans certains cas, elles n’étaient pas des outils de travail, mais des objets collectionnés par l’orfèvre. Et enfin il arrivait qu’après la mort de l’orfèvre, ses héritiers, les exécuteurs testamentaires ou les commissaires-priseurs ajoutent des estampes ou livres d’estampes ne lui appartenant pas ou, au contraire, retirent de la vente ceux qui, par un autre biais, avaient déjà trouvé un nouveau destinataire. Les catalogues de vente de t’Sas et Tiberghien illustrent fort bien ces mécanismes. Mais à ce jour le nombre de catalogues de vente connus des orfèvres des Pays-Bas méridionaux ne suffit pas à tirer des conclusions définitives. Nous espérons retrouver encore d’autres exemples nous permettant d’y voir plus clair, comme le catalogue des livres de Beghin que l’on a découvert récemment. Sur le plan iconographique, les œuvres graphiques de Rubens et, dans son sillage, les estampes d’après les œuvres de Van Dyck sont, au XVIIIe siècle, encore un facteur important, non seulement de par leur nombre mais aussi en termes de marketing des ventes. Les quelques rares références concrètes aux estampes d’ornements ou modèles de Lepautre, Germain, Babel et Forty confirment la thèse communément admise selon laquelle le style français a eu une énorme influence sur le développement de l’art de l’orfèvrerie dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux. Hormis une série d’estampes de Heylbrouck et bien sûr celles gravées par Tiberghien lui-même, on n’a retrouvé aucune trace d’estampes d’ornements flamandes du XVIIIe siècle.
For the most part, few if any details are forthcoming about the existence of ornament prints, pat... more For the most part, few if any details are forthcoming about the existence of ornament prints, pattern-books and handbooks in the workshops of silversmiths and jewellers in the long eighteenth century. They were omitted from inventories because they were work-related material that was used as a source of inspiration or mnemonic. That work-related material was often passed down for generations from silversmith to silversmith, from father to son and from master to journeyman. Only in the event of a (public) sale do more details sometimes come to light, but then a degree of caution is necessary for several reasons: 1. the prints may have been a business asset of the silversmith who was working as an art or print dealer; 2. in a number of cases the prints were included in their art collection not as work-related material, but as collectables; 3. a number of prints were sometimes added posthumously by heirs, the executors of wills or auctioneers. T’Sas’ and Tiberghien’s auction catalogues illustrate these mechanisms well, but at the moment the number of known auction catalogues of silversmiths from the Southern Netherlands is too limited to allow us to draw any definitive conclusions.
It is to be hoped, however, that as in the case of the recovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin, more examples will emerge and shed further light on the subject. On an iconographic level, prints after the oeuvre of Rubens and in his footsteps prints after Van Dyck, still played an important role in the eighteenth century, not only in terms of quantity but also as a marketing instrument for auctions. The rare references to specific ornament prints and designs by Le Pautre, Germain, Babel and Forty confirm the generally accepted proposition that the French style had a great influence on the development of silversmithing in the Southern or Austrian Netherlands. With the exception of a set by Heylbrouck from Ghent, no eighteenth-century Flemish ornament prints were mentioned.
Juventutis Dux, Juris Doctor. Liber amicorum amicarumque Jozef Dauwe, 2021
This article on the Eléments d'Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain, published in 1748 in Paris, is an ad... more This article on the Eléments d'Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain, published in 1748 in Paris, is an adapted version of the lecture presented at the Koninklijke Academie voor Oudheidkunde van België in Brussels on the 17th of October 2020.
Two short articles on acquisitions by the museum DIVA in Antwerp: one on a rare print, part of a ... more Two short articles on acquisitions by the museum DIVA in Antwerp: one on a rare print, part of a series published by the Brussels jeweller Joannes Baptista Grondoni (1680-1738) dedicated to Max Emanuel van Beieren (1662-1726) and another on the publication 'Eléments d'Orfèvrerie' by the Parisian goldsmith Pierre Germain (1703-1783).
Belgisch tijdschrift voor oudheidkunde en kunstgeschiedenis, 2020
Crucifixes and a royal bust of boxwood from the workshop of Adrianus Nijs (1683-1771) and Philipp... more Crucifixes and a royal bust of boxwood from the workshop of Adrianus Nijs (1683-1771) and Philippus Nijs (1724-1805) in Temse
In the mid-nineteenth century Adrianus Egidius Nijs (1683-1771) and his son Philippus Alexander Franciscus Nijs (1724-1805) are praised for their wooden crucifixes. It was also known that Philippus carved a bust of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712-1780), then governor general of the Austrian Netherlands. This boxwood bust resurfaced in 2014 and was acquired by the Fondation Roi Baudouin. In the same decade two signed boxwood crucifixes by Adrianus and Philippus Nijs also reappeared. This was an ideal occasion to study the private commissions and especially the boxwood carvings of the Nijs workshop in Temse in relation to the development of sculpture in the Austrian Netherlands. The oeuvre of the regional focuessed Adrianus fits within the Antwerp Baroque tradition, while his ambitious son opts around 1750 for the rococo. Through his social network he is able to extend considerably his working area but he never reaches the quality level and impact of Jacques Bergé (1696-1756), Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778) or Pierre-François Le Roy (1799-1812).
Visitorsguide for the exhibition 'Eminent Elegance. Jewellery designs by L. Vander Cruycen'. From... more Visitorsguide for the exhibition 'Eminent Elegance. Jewellery designs by L. Vander Cruycen'. From April 28th untill June 15th 2019, a selection of the 18th century jewellery designs – attributed to L. Vander Cruycen – acquired by the King Baudouin Foundation, is exhibited in the reading room of the DIVA library. An album with ornament prints by Vander Cruycen and others is also on view. The brochure contains a short notice about jeweller L. Vander Cruycen, active in Brussels and Parijs c. 1770, and a description of the selected drawings and prints.
Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design, 2018
Books and prints from ‘Belgian’ jewellers, gold- and silversmiths in the long 18th century. The a... more Books and prints from ‘Belgian’ jewellers, gold- and silversmiths in the long 18th century. The auction catalogues of Michel François t’Sas (1768), Jean François Beghin (1787) and Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1813) Generally speaking, we have virtually no known details for the long 18th century about the presence of ornamental design prints, model or handbooks in the workshops of jewellers, gold- and silversmiths in the Southern Netherlands. They are not mentioned in inventories because they were considered as part of the tools that generations of craftsmen passed on from father to son, or from master to apprentice, as a memory aid or as a source of inspiration. Only when a public sale was held can we sometimes discover a few details, but even then we need to exercise caution for a variety of reasons: the prints may have been part of the merchandise of the gold- or silversmiths, who may have been active as art or print dealers, or the prints may have been included in their collections as collectable items rather than as work materials, or they may instead have been added posthumously to the sale by the heirs, executors or auctioneers. These mechanisms are clearly illustrated by the auction catalogues of court jeweller Michel François t’Sas (b. 1701) from Brussels and engraver, modeller and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) from Ghent. Nonetheless, the number of known auction catalogues of gold- and silversmiths from the Southern Netherlands is still too small to draw any firm conclusions. One can only hope that more examples will come to light, such as the recently discovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin (1727-1787) from Mons, to provide us with better insights. The mention of copper plates in the auction catalogue of t’Sas and the presence of contemporary graphic art, e.g. after the painter Jean Laurent Krafft, but also the fact that his son Nicolas Joseph t’Sas (1740-1800) was active as a print expert and dealer, indicate that t’Sas at least matches the profile of a collector focused on reselling works of art, if not actively involved in the trade in prints. Iconographically still important in the 18th century are Rubens’s prints, and in its slipstream prints after Van Dyck, not only in quantitative terms but also in the promotion of auctions. The few concrete references to ornament design or model prints by Lepautre, the Elements d’Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain (1716-1783) and the Vignettes et Cartels by Pierre Edmé Babel (1720-1775) confirm the hypothesis that French prints were an important source for the development of the gold- and silversmith’s art in the Southern Netherlands. Except for a series of prints by Heylbrouck and Tiberghien’s own graphic work, neither the archival research for the Waasland nor the literature review for the Southern Netherlands, in particular Antwerp, uncovered any concrete traces of Flemish ornament design prints for gold- or silversmith’s work in inventories or (announcements of) auctions of jewellers, gold- and silversmiths during the long 18th century.
The custom of proclaiming a ‘Primus’ continued almost uninterrupted from 1428 until the temporary... more The custom of proclaiming a ‘Primus’ continued almost uninterrupted from 1428 until the temporary abolition of Leuven University in 1797. The winner of this competition between the four rival colleges – the Castle, the Lily, the Falcon and the Pig – was fêted with much pomp in Leuven and in the place where he was born or resided, or even in places en route there from the university. Commemorative printed matter and records dating from that period paint a vivid picture of the festivities. The Primus also received a material reward. To date we know of sixty-two who received ready money, a medal, silver tableware, porcelain or a painting. A silver ewer and basin more or less became the standard gift, for it was presented to no fewer than thirty-six Primuses. Other laureates were given a cup, a jug or coffeepot, a basin, a dish or a tray. Breda and Teteringen favoured an inkstand. In exceptional cases the victor was presented with a kettle or a tureen. There are also instances of silver candlesticks, sauce boats, cutlery and a sugar bowl, but they were usually given by acquaintances, brotherhoods or guilds to Primuses whose family was part of the urban establishment. Several Primuses, mainly from Brussels, received a gold medal or chain from the sovereign. Not only the town council but also regional councils like the hoofdcollege in the Land van Waas and the States of Hainaut, and for example St Servatius Chapter in Maastricht, contributed too. Schools, like the Augustinians in Ghent, were quick to include their former students in their hall of fame. There was not much time between the proclamation of the Primus and the official ceremony, and the programme had to be put together at great speed. Fortunately the organizers were able to rely on the well-oiled machinery behind the (annual) cavalcades, ommegangen and guild festivities. City councils would commission the silver gifts from their regular suppliers and have their coats of arms engraved on them, but in a number of cases they were obliged to order the silver elsewhere or even purchase it second hand. Sometimes when time was particularly short, the gift was delivered to the Primus’s home after the event and we know of one case where the Primus initially had to make do with the design sketch for his silver ensemble.
Zilver in Antwerpen : De handel, het ambacht en de klant, 2011
At the Siege of Antwerp in December 1832, the French gunner Alphonse Joseph Louis (*1810) receive... more At the Siege of Antwerp in December 1832, the French gunner Alphonse Joseph Louis (*1810) received shrapnel injuries from an exploding shell fired by Dutch troops led by Baron Chassé (1765–1849). The gunner’s right forearm was amputated almost immediately and despite a poor prognosis, an effective silver prosthesis was made for his badly disfigured face by the Antwerp silversmith and chaser Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen (1801–1865). From as early as 1833, the prosthesis, of which two polychromed copper versions together with plaster busts of the victim have survived, was referred to in the medical literature as a model example of military and plastic surgery. Consequently, outside France, in countries like England, Germany and America, Alphonse Joseph Louis became better known as ‘the gunner with the silver mask’. The original article about it written by William Whymper was based on Dr Forget’s notes which reached him via Baron Larrey (1766–1842). Royal surgeon and dentist Robert Nasmyth (1792–1870) was particularly interested in this technical and aesthetic piece of bravado and in 1833 ordered a copper version from Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen which he later gifted to the University of Edinburgh. Verschuylen also attached much importance to this commission. Through his daughter Reine Louis Cornelie Verschuylen (1836–1905) and Gaston Stalins, in 1905 one of the masks found its way to the Vleeshuis Museum in Antwerp. In 2006 it was wrongly posited that it may have been a prosthesis for Frans Debel (*1779), who suffered injury to his cheek in the skirmishes of September 1830 which led to Belgian independence.
Als tin- en loodgieter komt Joannes Baptiste Nijs (1714-1798) nauwelijks aan bod in de literatuur... more Als tin- en loodgieter komt Joannes Baptiste Nijs (1714-1798) nauwelijks aan bod in de literatuur over de Temsese kunstenaarsfamilie Nijs . In het beste geval wordt hij als zoon van beeldhouwer Adrianus Nijs (1683-1771) en als broer van zilversmid Franciscus Nijs (1709-1778) en koninklijk beeldhouwer Philippus Alexander Franciscus Nijs (1724-1805) vermeld. Dit heeft wellicht ook te maken met het minder prestigieus karakter van zijn beroep. Bovendien zijn er relatief weinig voorbeelden van zijn werk bekend. In 1986 werd het voor handen zijnde biografisch materiaal voor het eerst gerelateerd aan zijn tinproductie en meesterteken. In 1993 werd dit nog uitgebreid met nieuwe archiefvondsten. Met deze bijdrage wordt een poging ondernomen om het leven en werk van Joannes Baptiste Nijs nauwkeuriger te schetsen.
Gentse bijdragen tot de interieurgeschiedenis, 2005
The Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis (1780-1852) and the creation of the first Belgian... more The Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis (1780-1852) and the creation of the first Belgian Trophies for horseracing c. 1825-1840. the earliest horse races in Belgium date from 1773 and were held in Spa. Once the races started to be held on a regular basis, in Brussels from 1825 and in Ghent from 1838, the winners received a cup or a trophy as a prize. In Brussels, the races were originally organised in conjunction with the birthday of Willem I, king of the Netherlands. In the period1825-1841 the Brussels silversmith Joseph Germain Dutalis (1826-1829, 1835-1836) and Josse Allard (1830, 1837-1841) made the throphies. Six examples of trophies by Dutalis have been discovered (1826-1829, 1833, 1835 en 1836). At present, the only example by Allard dates from 1841. Like the trophy by Jean-Baptiste Dees, it was exhibeted prior to the race at the Exposition des produits de l’industrie belge in Brussels. Constant Luckx-Schohaus from Mons also exhibeted a trophy for a horse race in 1841, in this case at an artistic salon. Joseph Germain Dutalis found his inspiration in ancient models, such as the Medici and Warwick vases, as thus joined the Paris silversmith Fauconnier and the Berlin silversmith Hossauer in following the English competition trophies conceived by Robert Adam and Paul Storr. Dutalis no doubt drew inspiration from ornament print, such as Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi … by Piranesi (1778) or the Vorbilder für Fabrikanten und Handwerker published in Berl (from 1821) onwards.
The Antwerp sculptor Joannes Claudius de Cock (1667-1735), who worked for the court of Willem III... more The Antwerp sculptor Joannes Claudius de Cock (1667-1735), who worked for the court of Willem III in Breda, had a particular interest in printing technologies and designed prints and bookillustrations engraved by Jan Antoni de Pooter (*1660), Petrus Balthasar Bouttats (†1756), Hendirk Frans Diamaer (*1685), Jan-Baptist Jongelinck (*1689) and Norbert Heylbrouck sr (†1762) printed/edited by Balthasar IV Moretus, Petrus Jouret, J.P. Robyns, Joannes Borckx, Jean François Lucas and Andreas Wydts.
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Only once ornament prints by Pierre Germain (1703-1783) dit le Romain could be traced with some reserve in the collection of a silversmith in the Southern Netherlands. After the death of silversmith, engraver and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) a copy of his Eléments d’Orfèvrerie was auctioned in Ghent. Annotated versions of this publication or drawings after the ornament prints could yet not be connected to silversmiths form the Austrian Netherlands. At first sight the impact of this series of prints, first published in 1748 and of which many reprints were published in 18th-century and early 19th-century Paris, is marginal, but surviving examples of silver tableware and cult objects made in Brussels, Ath, Mons and Diest in the years 1760 and 1770 are suggesting that several silversmiths probably had this source material at hand. They did not follow the models slavishly, but used it as a source of inspiration. Via diverse channels they were aware of the availability of this type of print series. Advertisements in for example the Mercure de France and printed catalogues of publishers and book sellers are a good proof of that. Maybe the reproduction of some of the designs by Pierre Germain in the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d’Alembert had with some delay also impact. Copies and imitations published in Augsburg, Nuremberg or even London could have been of influence. Diverse sources are confirming that silversmiths based in the Austrian Netherlands had direct contact or via agents with the foreign production centers mentioned. We cannot exclude that silversmiths companions from Antwerp, Bruges, Tournai, Leuven, Mons and Namur who worked in Paris at that time had early access to this sources. The edition of this series, published in several issues, was not only intended for craftsmen or artists, but had also amateurs or potential patrons in mind. It is unsure, but cannot be ruled out that silverwork made by Pierre Germain and by extension by Thomas Germain (1726-1791) or Jacques Roëttiers (1707-1784), both silversmiths of the French Royal Court, in the possession of authorities or prominent families in the Austrian Netherlands could have been of influence on local silversmiths. Based on some probate inventories of wealthy Antwerp families it is stated that they commissioned tableware in their hometown in addition to French silver in their possession.
Quel sont les liens entre Jean-Henry Liénard, Petrus Simon Hoffinger et Jean-Baptiste Verberckt à Anvers, Lambertus Millé à Bruxelles, Franciscus Nijs à Tamise et Antoine-Constant de Bettignies à Mons à l'un côté et Jacques Verberckt, sculpteur de la cour française, les recueils d'orfèvrerie de Germain, Meissonnier et Habermann publiés à Paris et Augsbourg, le magasin à la Mode de Paris à Anvers, les marchands d'estampes et graveurs comme Fruijtiers et Heylbrouck à l'autre côté?
Néanmoins les exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par example un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des réproductions d’œuvres d’art de sculpteurs comme Bouchardon et de peintres comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée des collections d’estampes? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que c’est une partie d’une collection d’art? En plus on doit se demander que les catalogues de vente après décès ne sont pas manipulés? Est-ce qu’il y a des (livres d’) estampes qui ne proviennent pas du fonds de l’atelier ou de la collection du défunt? Et souvent ils manquent des estampes quand la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon d’orfèvre a répris l’atelier.
Les collections de Michel François t’Sas, maître orfèvre à Bruxelles dès 1736 et Jouaillier de S.A.R. le Duc Charles de Lorraine, et de Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810), dessinateur, graveur et orfèvre-ciseleur à Gand, sont vendues respectivement en 1768 et 1813. Les titres des catalogues de vente indiquent que ce ne sont pas des fonds d’ateliers, mais en premier lieu des collections d’art. Le premier catalogue de vente, rédigé par le peintre Jan Lauwrijn Krafft (*1694), porte le titre Catalogue d’une très belle collection des estampes, desseins et planches de cuivre des premiers Maîtres Italiens, Francois & Flamands. Rassemblés avec grand soin & fraix (…). La collection de feu Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien, maître orfèvre et amateur, est décrite comme une riche et précieuse collection de livres, estampes en feuilles et encadrées, livres d’estampes, dessins, etc., mais le catalogue mentionne aussi des outils d’orfèvre.
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It is to be hoped, however, that as in the case of the recovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin, more examples will emerge and shed further light on the subject. On an iconographic level, prints after the oeuvre of Rubens and in his footsteps prints after Van Dyck, still played an important role in the eighteenth century, not only in terms of quantity but also as a marketing instrument for auctions. The rare references to specific ornament prints and designs by Le Pautre, Germain, Babel and Forty confirm the generally accepted proposition that the French style had a great influence on the development of silversmithing in the Southern or Austrian Netherlands. With the exception of a set by Heylbrouck from Ghent, no eighteenth-century Flemish ornament prints were mentioned.
Only once ornament prints by Pierre Germain (1703-1783) dit le Romain could be traced with some reserve in the collection of a silversmith in the Southern Netherlands. After the death of silversmith, engraver and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) a copy of his Eléments d’Orfèvrerie was auctioned in Ghent. Annotated versions of this publication or drawings after the ornament prints could yet not be connected to silversmiths form the Austrian Netherlands. At first sight the impact of this series of prints, first published in 1748 and of which many reprints were published in 18th-century and early 19th-century Paris, is marginal, but surviving examples of silver tableware and cult objects made in Brussels, Ath, Mons and Diest in the years 1760 and 1770 are suggesting that several silversmiths probably had this source material at hand. They did not follow the models slavishly, but used it as a source of inspiration. Via diverse channels they were aware of the availability of this type of print series. Advertisements in for example the Mercure de France and printed catalogues of publishers and book sellers are a good proof of that. Maybe the reproduction of some of the designs by Pierre Germain in the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d’Alembert had with some delay also impact. Copies and imitations published in Augsburg, Nuremberg or even London could have been of influence. Diverse sources are confirming that silversmiths based in the Austrian Netherlands had direct contact or via agents with the foreign production centers mentioned. We cannot exclude that silversmiths companions from Antwerp, Bruges, Tournai, Leuven, Mons and Namur who worked in Paris at that time had early access to this sources. The edition of this series, published in several issues, was not only intended for craftsmen or artists, but had also amateurs or potential patrons in mind. It is unsure, but cannot be ruled out that silverwork made by Pierre Germain and by extension by Thomas Germain (1726-1791) or Jacques Roëttiers (1707-1784), both silversmiths of the French Royal Court, in the possession of authorities or prominent families in the Austrian Netherlands could have been of influence on local silversmiths. Based on some probate inventories of wealthy Antwerp families it is stated that they commissioned tableware in their hometown in addition to French silver in their possession.
Quel sont les liens entre Jean-Henry Liénard, Petrus Simon Hoffinger et Jean-Baptiste Verberckt à Anvers, Lambertus Millé à Bruxelles, Franciscus Nijs à Tamise et Antoine-Constant de Bettignies à Mons à l'un côté et Jacques Verberckt, sculpteur de la cour française, les recueils d'orfèvrerie de Germain, Meissonnier et Habermann publiés à Paris et Augsbourg, le magasin à la Mode de Paris à Anvers, les marchands d'estampes et graveurs comme Fruijtiers et Heylbrouck à l'autre côté?
Néanmoins les exceptions nous informent en détail. L’orfèvre parisien François Thomas Germain (1726-1791) possède par example un grand nombre de livres d’estampes, soit des réproductions d’œuvres d’art de sculpteurs comme Bouchardon et de peintres comme Boucher, soit des estampes ou recueils d’ornemanistes comme Le Pautre, Berain et Meissonnier. Mais quelle est la portée des collections d’estampes? Est-ce que ce sont des modèles à copier, des modèles d’inspiration ou bien est-ce que c’est une partie d’une collection d’art? En plus on doit se demander que les catalogues de vente après décès ne sont pas manipulés? Est-ce qu’il y a des (livres d’) estampes qui ne proviennent pas du fonds de l’atelier ou de la collection du défunt? Et souvent ils manquent des estampes quand la veuve, le fils ou le compagnon d’orfèvre a répris l’atelier.
Les collections de Michel François t’Sas, maître orfèvre à Bruxelles dès 1736 et Jouaillier de S.A.R. le Duc Charles de Lorraine, et de Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810), dessinateur, graveur et orfèvre-ciseleur à Gand, sont vendues respectivement en 1768 et 1813. Les titres des catalogues de vente indiquent que ce ne sont pas des fonds d’ateliers, mais en premier lieu des collections d’art. Le premier catalogue de vente, rédigé par le peintre Jan Lauwrijn Krafft (*1694), porte le titre Catalogue d’une très belle collection des estampes, desseins et planches de cuivre des premiers Maîtres Italiens, Francois & Flamands. Rassemblés avec grand soin & fraix (…). La collection de feu Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien, maître orfèvre et amateur, est décrite comme une riche et précieuse collection de livres, estampes en feuilles et encadrées, livres d’estampes, dessins, etc., mais le catalogue mentionne aussi des outils d’orfèvre.
It is to be hoped, however, that as in the case of the recovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin, more examples will emerge and shed further light on the subject. On an iconographic level, prints after the oeuvre of Rubens and in his footsteps prints after Van Dyck, still played an important role in the eighteenth century, not only in terms of quantity but also as a marketing instrument for auctions. The rare references to specific ornament prints and designs by Le Pautre, Germain, Babel and Forty confirm the generally accepted proposition that the French style had a great influence on the development of silversmithing in the Southern or Austrian Netherlands. With the exception of a set by Heylbrouck from Ghent, no eighteenth-century Flemish ornament prints were mentioned.
In the mid-nineteenth century Adrianus Egidius Nijs (1683-1771) and his son Philippus Alexander Franciscus Nijs (1724-1805) are praised for their wooden crucifixes. It was also known that Philippus carved a bust of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (1712-1780), then governor general of the Austrian Netherlands. This boxwood bust resurfaced in 2014 and was acquired by the Fondation Roi Baudouin. In the same decade two signed boxwood crucifixes by Adrianus and Philippus Nijs also reappeared. This was an ideal occasion to study the private commissions and especially the boxwood carvings of the Nijs workshop in Temse in relation to the development of sculpture in the Austrian Netherlands. The oeuvre of the regional focuessed Adrianus fits within the Antwerp Baroque tradition, while his ambitious son opts around 1750 for the rococo. Through his social network he is able to extend considerably his working area but he never reaches the quality level and impact of Jacques Bergé (1696-1756), Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778) or Pierre-François Le Roy (1799-1812).
Generally speaking, we have virtually no known details for the long 18th century about the presence of ornamental design prints, model or handbooks in the workshops of jewellers, gold- and silversmiths in the Southern Netherlands. They are not mentioned in inventories because they were considered as part of the tools that generations of craftsmen passed on from father to son, or from master to apprentice, as a memory aid or as a source of inspiration. Only when a public sale was held can we sometimes discover a few details, but even then we need to exercise caution for a variety of reasons: the prints may have been part of the merchandise of the gold- or silversmiths, who may have been active as art or print dealers, or the prints may have been included in their collections as collectable items rather than as work materials, or they may instead have been added posthumously to the sale by the heirs, executors or auctioneers.
These mechanisms are clearly illustrated by the auction catalogues of court jeweller Michel François t’Sas (b. 1701) from Brussels and engraver, modeller and interior designer Pierre Joseph Jacques Tiberghien (1755-1810) from Ghent. Nonetheless, the number of known auction catalogues of gold- and silversmiths from the Southern Netherlands is still too small to draw any firm conclusions. One can only hope that more examples will come to light, such as the recently discovered catalogue of the book auction of silversmith Jean François Joseph Beghin (1727-1787) from Mons, to provide us with better insights. The mention of copper plates in the auction catalogue of t’Sas and the presence of contemporary graphic art, e.g. after the painter Jean Laurent Krafft, but also the fact that his son Nicolas Joseph t’Sas (1740-1800) was active as a print expert and dealer, indicate that t’Sas at least matches the profile of a collector focused on reselling works of art, if not actively involved in the trade in prints.
Iconographically still important in the 18th century are Rubens’s prints, and in its slipstream prints after Van Dyck, not only in quantitative terms but also in the promotion of auctions. The few concrete references to ornament design or model prints by Lepautre, the Elements d’Orfèvrerie by Pierre Germain (1716-1783) and the Vignettes et Cartels by Pierre Edmé Babel (1720-1775) confirm the hypothesis that French prints were an important source for the development of the gold- and silversmith’s art in the Southern Netherlands. Except for a series of prints by Heylbrouck and Tiberghien’s own graphic work, neither the archival research for the Waasland nor the literature review for the Southern Netherlands, in particular Antwerp, uncovered any concrete traces of Flemish ornament design prints for gold- or silversmith’s work in inventories or (announcements of) auctions of jewellers, gold- and silversmiths during the long 18th century.