Love of Porcelain—The Amsterdam Mart—Prices of China in 1615—Oriental Wares before 1520—Luxury of the Dutch Colonists—Rich Burghers in New Amsterdam—Inventories of Margarita van Varick and Jacob de Lange—Dutch Merchants in the East—Foreign Views of Dutch Luxury—Dutch Interiors after the Great and Little Masters—House-furnishing by a young married couple—The Linen Chest—Clothes Chests and Cupboards—The Great Kas—The Cabinet—The Toilet—Table-Covers—Foot-warmers—Looking-glasses—Bedsteads—Tables and Chairs—Woods—Kitchen Utensils—Silverware—Household Pets.

In the preceding chapter, we have seen the constantly increasing importance of porcelain in the Dutch home. In England there was quite as great a demand for this ware among the wealthy classes; but the London East India Company could not supply the demand, and the reason is not far to seek. The Dutch were more energetic, or, at least, more successful in ousting and supplanting the Portuguese, and the Stores of the Indies in Amsterdam became recognized as the headquarters of distribution of Oriental ceramics. In all probability, the English company was not able to import wares of such superior quality as were the Dutch. The Dutch made themselves masters in the Eastern Seas, and British trade had a hard uphill fight there for a century and a half. The Dutch carried things with a very high hand, and the laws of neither God nor man were respected on the course of Vanderdecken from Cape Verde to Japan. The massacre of a few inoffensive English traders at Amboyna aroused quite a coolness in England towards Holland, and caused a good deal of embarrassment to the Government early in the reign of Charles I, which was too busy with home affairs to insist on reparation. However, the Dutch were only carrying on the traditions of “the spacious times of great Elizabeth,” when the methods of the great navigators were frankly piratical. England became well acquainted with Eastern wares when Hawkins, Drake, or Cumberland sailed into Plymouth with the rich freight of Portuguese carracks which they had waylaid around the Azores.

The Dutch love of porcelain was very real: it appears in many a diary, letter and anecdote. In every home, the humble rectory and the house of the rich burgher-master alike, the same desire to own porcelain is found. When one Pastor Arnold Moonen was asked how much he would charge for his translation of Cicero’s EpistolÆ ad familiares, he answered: “Mijnheer! Ik mij in geenen staet bevindende om iet voor mijnen arbeit te kunnen eischen, als diergelijken handel ongewoon, zal enelijk van UEd. verzoeke te voldoen, de raet van die vrouwe volgen, die de Heer mij tot een hulpe gegeven heeft. Deze eischt van mij een nooteboomen kabinet met een stelsel in porselein, als zijn toebehooren, om daarop te setten, zoo als de vrinden kunnen goetvinden.” (“Sir! not being in a position to charge anything for my labour, as this is not an habitual thing, I should take heed of my wife, whom the Lord hath given me for a helpmate. She wishes to possess a nutwood cabinet with a set of porcelain to go with it, and to place ornaments on the top, if the consistory will grant this!”) Such a set of porcelain as the good lady required to decorate the top and fill the shelves within, cost at that time as much as 300 double ducats (equal to about £136); but the ladies of that period had desires for fine furniture, dress and fashion that their husbands were often unable to gratify.

The best china-ware was obtainable in Amsterdam only, and English travellers used to buy porcelain there, as they now go to Brussels or Mechlin for lace or Cashmere for shawls. As late as the reign of Charles II, Holland maintained her pre-eminence in this trade. In Henry Sidney’s Diary, November 18, 1679 (on the eve of his departure for Holland) we read: “My sister Sunderland spoke to me for a China cup.” Later he notes: “I went to see the magazine, the East India Stores.”

We have already seen the prices of various kinds of porcelain in Holland in 1653 and 1689. It may be interesting to compare these with English prices earlier in the century. From the bill of lading of the Java (1615) we gather that the prime cost of porcelain was: “Saucer dishes, nearly 2d. a piece; flat sallet dishes, about 3½d.; sallet cups, 3½d.; posset dishes, 4d.; small (quarter) basins, 1s. 9d.; larger (half) basins, 2s. 6d.; largest (whole) basins, 5s.”

This was evidently china-ware of the cheapest kind, and the prices show that porcelain was now on the market in such quantities as to drive out the old pewter plates and dishes from the homes of the middle classes as well as the aristocracy. During the first quarter of the seventeenth century, however, the Oriental wares to be found in opulent houses were by no means confined to china-ware. The art furniture brought from the East was varied and choice.

The inventory of a Dutch or English noble of wealth of that period shows the same taste for Eastern fabrics, lacquer and porcelain, and evidences the elegance that made Madame de Rambouillet famous in France. As an example, let us take the Earl of Northampton, who was famous and infamous in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean days. He died in 1619. Among his possessions we find the following goods of Oriental manufacture:

“A cupbord containynge seven parcels of purslane cups trimmed with silver and guilte valued at £12; a field bedstead of China worke, black and silver, branched with silver, with the Arms of the Earle of Northampton upon the headpiece, the toppe and valance of purple velvett striped downe with silver laces and knots of silver, the frindge blewe silk and silver with 8 cuppes and plumes spangled suteable, the five curtains of purple taffata with buttons and lace of silver, the counterpoint of purple damaske suteable laced; one China cushen imbrodred with birdes, beastes and flowers, the ground of white Grogeron lined with yellow taffeta, 10s.; thirteen yeardes and a quarter of purple gold velvett, China with flower-de-luces and diamond work, £8 13s. 4d.; a China striped quilt of beastes and antiques, the ground whice calico frindged about with a straw coloured frindge, £5; another China quilte stayned and spotted in colours £4; another China quilt stitched in checquer work with yellow silke, the ground white, £4; and a China carpett of several colours, the ground white and weaved in with antiques of several colours lined with watchett taffata, £4.

“A China guilte cabonett upon a frame, £1 10s.; a large square China worke table and frame of black vernishe and gold, £6; one faire crimson velvet chaire richlie imbosted with copper and spread eagles and blewe and white flowers China worke, the frame painted with gold and my Lord’s crest upon the same; one small table of China worke in golde and colours with flies and wormes upon a pillar suitable, £1; a little gilded couch carved and cutt, 15s.; an ebony cabinett inlaid with mother-of-pearle, 13s.; a very large bedstead with wreathed pillars ballastars for head, side and feete, all coloured blacke and gold, £7; a foldinge Indian screne, £3 4s.”

The bonds between England and Holland were very close in Puritan days, and the household belongings of the two countries, both in hall and cottage, were practically identical. In Holland, the Puritans found a refuge and congenial surroundings before sailing for the New World. The homes of the prosperous burghers of New Amsterdam, now New York, faithfully mirrored the comfort and taste of those of Amsterdam and The Hague; and here we may pause a moment to examine a couple of inventories of early dwellers in what is still the most important city in the Western Hemisphere.

Mrs. Margarita van Varick died in 1696, and her bequests to her children are eloquent testimony of the estimation in which she held her various household goods. In her will she leaves: “In a great chest bound up in a napkin for Johanna van Varick, a silver spice-box, a silver egg-dish, a silver thimble, a silver wrought East India box, 18 pieces of silver children’s toys, 11 pieces Arabian and Christian silver money, one gold ring with seven diamonds, two gold drops for the ear, one gold Arabian ducat, one Dutch Testament with gold clasps, one gold chain with a locket with seven diamonds, one pearl necklace, one small silver knife and fork, one small bundle beaten leaf gold, two gold pins headed with pearls, one gold bodkin, and one looking-glass with gilt frame.

“In another napkin for Marinus van Varick, three silver wrought East India cups, one ditto dish, three pieces of silver money, one medal, 20 pieces of silver children’s toys, one silver knife, one gold ring with a table diamond, two gold rings, one gold ducat, one gold medal, and one small gold box as big as a pea.

“In another napkin for Rudolphus van Varick, three silver wrought East India boxes, one small ditto dish, one silver tumbler marked R. V., 17 pieces silver playthings or toys, 8 pieces of silver money, one silver knife, one fork silver studded handle, one gold ring with three small diamonds, one gold ring, one ducat, two gold buttons, one gilded medal, and a gold piece the shape of a diamond.

“In another napkin for Cornelia van Varick, a silver wrought East India trunk, a ditto box, a saltcellar, 28 silver playthings or toys, 20 silver pieces of money, a small mother-of-pearl box, a gold comb, a Bible with gold clasps, a small bundle of leaf gold, a pair of diamond pendants, two gold chains, two gold rings with a diamond in each, two small gold rings, one pair crystal pendants edged with gold, one Arabian ducat, and two gold pins.

“Also for Johanna, the biggest and finest Turkey-work carpet, a set of white flowered muslin curtains, a chintz flowered carpet, an East India cabinet with ebony foot wrought, the picture of Mrs. van Varick, the picture of Johanna, three china pots, one feather bed, one bolster, two cushions, one quilt, one white calico blanket.

“Also for Marinus, a Turkey-work carpet, a gold bell and chain, a blue satin flowered carpet, a calico ditto, a silver-headed cane, a Moorish tobacco-pipe, a calico nightgown, a hair brush, a red box, two East India cabinets with brass handles, a feather bed, bolster, quilt, two cushions and green blanket, a picture of J. Abramson, and a ‘large picture of images, sheep and ships that hung above the chimney.’

“Also for Rudolphus, a small ebony trunk with silver handles, a picture with a gilt frame, a cane with a silver head, a flowered carpet stitched with gold, a calico carpet, and a large picture of himself.

“Also for Cornelia, the second finest Turkey-work carpet, two pictures with glasses before them, a calico nightgown, a hair brush, a chintz flowered carpet, a small black cabinet with silver hinges, the picture of Cornelia Hester deceased, the picture of a flower pot, a china cup bound with silver, a large looking-glass with ebony frame, two white china cups with covers, a feather bed covered with checkered linen, a bolster, three wadding cushions, two feather ditto, one quilt and a homespun blanket.

“Also for Johanna and Cornelia, two glaasen cases with 39 pieces of small china-ware, 11 Indian babyes, and 6 small and 6 larger china dishes.

“Also for Marinus and Rudolphus, 23 pieces of china-ware.

“Also to be divided equally among them, 37 Dutch books 4º; and 46 ditto 8^vo; and 4 ditto folio; a chest with children’s babyes playthings and toys; and 13 ebony chairs.”

Mrs. van Varick’s home in New Amsterdam did not suffer in comparison with the rich Dutch houses in Holland. Her clothes, jewels and bequests to her children prove that her life was one of ease, luxury and fashion. Her house was not only furnished with every comfort known to the period, but was filled with curios, treasures from the Far East, rich furniture, and a fine collection of china and paintings. Her furniture included fine and richly upholstered bedsteads, tables, chairs, cabinets, glass cupboards for china, great Kasten, a handsome “painted wooden rack to set china-ware in,” six looking-glasses, and ten Indian looking-glasses, “two East India cane baskets with covers, one fine East India dressing-basket, one round ditto, two wooden gilt East India trays, lackered, and one round thing ditto.” Five brass hanging candlesticks and handle candlesticks, a double brass ditto, snuffers and extinguisher, a pair of brass standing candlesticks, and a standing candlestick with two brass candlesticks to it, prove that the house did not suffer for want of illumination. It was also bright with rich curtains and cushions. Among these were six satin cushions with gold flowers, a suit of serge bed-curtains and valance with silk fringe, six scarlet serge bed-curtains with valance and silk fringe, a green serge chimney cloth with fringe, two chimney cloths of flowered crimson gauge and six window curtains of the same, a painted chimney cloth, a calico curtain, a fine chintz carpet, many handsome Turkey-work carpets and white flowered muslin curtains. She had fourteen East India pictures, some with gilt and some with black frames, and twelve prints also in black and gilt frames, two maps with black frames, and about twenty well chosen paintings. Some of the subjects of these clearly show that they were in the style of Jan Steen, Dou, etc. In addition to landscapes, battles and fruit-pieces, the inventory notes “two pictures of ships with black ebony frames,” “one picture of the Apostle,” “one large flower pot,” “one with a rummer,” “one birdcage and purse, etc.,” “a large horse battle,” and “a large picture of roots.”

The china exhibited in the cabinets and on the mantelpieces and cupboards made a fine display; for in addition to the Oriental curios and other pieces willed to her daughters the house contained: three large china dishes, ten china dishes, four ditto (cracked), three teapots, two china basins, one ditto (cracked), one smaller ditto, two ditto (cracked), three fine china cups, one china jug, four china saucers, six ditto smaller tea dishes, one ditto (cracked), six painted tea ditto, four tea ditto, eight teacups, four ditto painted brown, six smaller ditto, three ditto painted red and blue, two white East India flower pots, one ditto (cracked), three ditto smaller, two ditto (round), one lion, one china image, and a china ink-box and two sand-boxes. Among her articles for the table she also owned three wooden painted dishes and a wooden tray with feet; also “a thing to put spoons in.” A parcel of toys and a collar for a dog are among the miscellaneous articles.

Turning now to another Dutch house in New Amsterdam—that of the barber-surgeon, Mr. Jacob de Lange, whose inventory was taken in 1685—we find the rooms consisting of a foreroom, side chamber, chamber, kitchen, shop and cellar. Mr. de Lange has a remarkable collection of porcelain and pictures, a great deal of fine furniture, rich clothing, jewels and East India cabinets, beautiful hangings, etc., etc.

Mr. de Lange’s furniture consists of twelve chairs upholstered with red plush, six with green plush, eleven matted chairs, seven chairs with wooden backs and a church chair. He has two “cann boards,” two small “cloak boards,” a hat press, a clothes press, a square table, a round table, a small round table, and an oak drawing-table, a small square cabinet with brass hoops, one waxed East India small trunk, one square black small sealing waxed trunk, one silver thread wrought small trunk, and an ivory small trunk tipped with silver. He also owned an East India rush case containing nineteen wine and beer glasses, and an East India waxed cabinet with brass bands and hinges, containing gloves, ribbons, laces, fourteen fans and seven purses in the first partition; laces, buckles and ribbons in the second; cloth in the third; caps in the fourth; fans, bands, scarfs, garters and girdles in the fifth; silk, fringe and calico in the sixth; silk and materials for purses in the seventh, and spectacles in the eighth.

The side chamber was furnished with eleven pictures, consisting of five East India pictures with red frames, four landscapes, one evening and a “small zea.” A looking-glass with a gilt frame also hung upon the wall. There was an enormous amount of porcelain here. The chimney was adorned with seven half-basins, two belly flagons, three white men, one sugar pot, two small pots, six small porringers and a small goblet. On and in the kas were two great basins, one goblet, two pots, two flasks, four drinking glasses, five drillings, six double butter dishes, thirty-three butter dishes, two white teapots, seven small red teapots, a hundred and twenty-seven teapots, one can with a silver joint, one ditto with a joint, two flaskets, one barber’s basin, five small basins, sixty-seven saucers, four salt-cellars, three small mustard pots, five oil pots, one small pot, three small men, two small men, one basin, two small cups, one small oil can, one ditto spice pot, five saucers, four small men, one small dog, two small swans, one small duck, two tobacco boxes, one sand-box, four small cans, one small spoon, six small flasks, two small oil cans, one small chalice, and two fruit dishes. This room contained an East India cupboard, ninety books, and a pair of blue curtains and valance.

The “foreroom” contained a black nutwood chest with two black feet under it, worth £2 10s., and some pieces of linen, £24 12s.; a looking-glass with a black frame, £1 5s.; two curtains before the glass windows; the family coat of arms in a black frame, £5 4s.; and the following paintings: “A great picture being a banquet with a black list,” “one ditto something smaller,” “one ditto a bunch of grapes with a pomegranate,” “one with apricocks,” “a small countrey,” “a Break of Day,” “a small Winter,” “a Cobler” and “a portrait of my lord Speelman.”

The pictures in the chamber include “a great picture banquet, worth £3 5s.; one ditto, £2 10s.; one small ditto, £1 15s.; one Abraham and Hagar, £1 5s.; four small countreys, £4; two small ditto, £1 12s.; one flower pot, one small ditto, one country people frolick, one sea-strand, one portraiture, and a plucked cock torn, two small countreys, one flower pot small, without a list, one small print broken, and thirteen East India prints pasted upon paper.”

This room was well furnished. There were sixteen linen curtains before the glass windows, a large and valuable kas covered or veneered with French nutwood, standing on two ball feet, worth £13; a great looking-glass with a black frame, a white valance before the chimney, “six cloths which they put on the shelves of the kas, one ditto with lace, two small calico valances before the glass windows, one red chimney cloth (probably placed over the white valance), two red striped silk curtains and two valances of the same, two green silk curtains and two embroidered valances, three grey striped silk chair cushions, four pieces of tapestry to be thrown over chests, one bedstead with white calico hangings and luxuriously supplied with cushions, and eight East India spreads, besides other spreads of flowered calico, red calico, and white calico in squares. There were five small East India boxes and a great deal of linen, also one white box marked E. W.”

Wherever the Dutch went, they lived not only in comfort, but in all the elegance and even splendour that their means would allow. In the New or the Old World, the merchant princes surrounded themselves with sumptuous furniture of mahogany, ebony, marquetry, ivory, lacquer, teak and sandal-wood, as well as porcelain, embroideries, rugs, screens and all kinds of stamped metal and bric-À-brac.

In 1685, the Count de Forbin says that the General of the East India Company at Batavia has a court quite royal in numbers and brilliance. “On my arrival (at the palace), the usual guard,” he writes, “which is very numerous, stood at arms, and, between two ranks of men, I was introduced into a gallery adorned with the most beautiful Japanese porcelains.”

Evelyn and other travellers are enthusiastic in their admiration of the riches and luxury they witnessed in Holland, although, as we have seen, England was not unfamiliar with Oriental art products. The Stuarts were art connoisseurs of the first rank, and James II, to whom Macaulay denies mental and aesthetic appreciation, was an intelligent collector. The most brilliant figure in the Court of Louis XIV, the Marquis de Dangeau, notes in his Diary (January 8, 1689), on the arrival of the fugitive Stuart: “The King of England found the apartments (of the Dauphin) admirable, and talked like a connoisseur of all the pictures, porcelains, crystals and other things that he saw there.”

One of the travellers who describes the Eastern goods seen in the shops and houses of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities, Charles Patin, writes in 1690:

“I had a sight of all their curiosities and those of all sorts, and among other divers paintings that we know, and others which are unknown to us; as also Indian and Chinese pieces of an inestimable value. In these last a curious eye may discover all the secret particulars of the history, the manner of living, customs and religion of those countries, and there are represented certain martyrs, who sacrifice their blood to the transport of their zeal, if it may be allowed to make so bad an application of that sacred name, which belongs only to the heroes of the true religion.”

Wills and inventories are invaluable aids to the student of Dutch furniture; but even more illuminating are the interiors painted by the Great and Little Masters—Jan Steen, Metsu, Cocques, Teniers, Rembrandt, Terburg, Don Weenix, Hoogstraten, Koedyck and a host of others. These are valuable as showing not only individual pieces of furniture, but also the general arrangement of rooms.

Plate XXVI, representing The Sick Woman, by Jan Steen, in the Rijks Museum, shows a very simple room with bare floor and bare walls. At the back of the room is an upholstered bed with long straight curtains, and tester ornamented with fringe and surmounted with “pommes.” On the wall hang a lute and a Frisian clock. The back of the chair is carved with lions’ heads above the arms. The table is covered with a handsome “carpet.”

A similar bed stands in the right hand corner of the room, represented in Plate XXXVII, also the picture of a Sick Lady, by S. van Hoogstraten. The arrangement of this room is extremely interesting, as a short flight of seven steps leads into a narrow passage and room above. A round window hung with a curtain lights the passage-way above, which contains a number of fine paintings and a low-backed chair with spirally turned legs, the back and seat covered with velvet put on with large-headed nails. A door leads into the room beyond, but all that we can see of this is a marble mantelpiece with a handsome painting above it, and heavy andirons. A large square armchair with spirally turned legs stands on the left of the bed. The invalid is seated on a common stiff chair of no decorative interest.

The obvious upper room was always a favourite feature of the houses in the Low Countries. An interior balcony is shown in Plate XXXVIII. This interior, painted by J. Koedyck about 1650, now in Brussels, is very interesting. The ceiling is unusually high, and consists of heavy beams; the windows are flush with the outside wall with deep interior recesses, and beneath them is a long wooden bench rudely carved. The old woman seated in a plain, two-backed, rush-bottomed chair seems to be dusting the legs of a spinet. Another two-backed chair stands in front of the bed, which from the positions of its pillows looks as if it might consist of an upper and lower berth, as was and still is often the case in the simpler homes in the Netherlands. Straight curtains hang from the cornice, a warming-pan is seen on the right, while above the cornice of the bed a child looks out of the shutters in the upper gallery. The chimney-piece is without the usual funnel-shaped top, and is also lacking in flat architectural ornamentation or a large painting. A candlestick and a few plates are the sole ornaments. It is carved with caryatids, however, and furnished with a chimney-cloth. Near the only caryatid visible stands what seems to be a metal “blower”; but there is probably no fire in the hearth, for the cat has found what she considers the most comfortable spot in the room on the foot-warmer. The most interesting piece of furniture in the room is the high-backed settle in the space between the fireplace and the window. This is panelled, and a little decoration occurs below the arms. Of course, the seat lifts up, and the box is used as a receptacle for articles.

Plate XXVII, one of Jan Steen’s famous interiors, from the Rijks Museum, has several interesting features: the architectural door and the high chimney-piece with stove being the most curious. The bed is dome-shaped and upholstered. A good type of chair stands in the foreground, and a table, on which is a cloth with deep fringe. A beautifully painted birdcage hangs from the ceiling.

Plate XXXVI, known as the Oyster Feast, by Jan Steen, in The Hague, shows an interesting room, which serves as hall, dining-room and kitchen. A large curtain is looped over the balustrade, which runs midway across the hall. This gallery leads from one of the upper sleeping apartments to another. One large window, with four panes, supplies the light. To the left of it is a bed, and next to it a mantelpiece with marble columns. Near this a parrot is sitting in a ring. Next comes the fireplace, where the oysters are being cooked. Waffle-irons lean up against the handsome chair in the foreground. Beneath the window a jovial man sits in a low-backed chair, near the group playing tric-trac on the long table, over which hangs a landscape in a handsome frame. Another table with a rich carpet is placed on the extreme right, at which two persons are enjoying their oysters. A clock hangs on the wall, and also a lute and birdcages. A large birdcage, similar to the one in Plate XXVII, hangs before the window. A dog, a kitten and playful children add a merry touch to the scene.

Plate XXXIX represents The Music Lesson, by Terburg, in the National Gallery, London. Here we have an ordinary sitting or living-room of a well-to-do household. The bed in the background resembles those in Plate XXVI and Plate XXXVII. On the wall hangs a picture in a rich frame. The fair musician sits on a low-backed chair with her foot on a foot-warmer. The table is covered with a very handsome carpet. Upon it stands a handsome candlestick.

Plate XLI, The Breakfast, by G. Metsu (1630–67) (Dresden Gallery), shows us the interior of an inn, with comparatively little furniture. The chair on which the woman is sitting is a good example of the period. The table, on which a “buire” stands, is of the most primitive kind. The birdcage hanging from the ceiling is similar to the one represented in Plate XXVII.

Plate XLII, by Jan Steen, representing a jovial company, is chiefly interesting for our purpose on account of the chair in which the host sits, the tablecloth and the larder at the back of the room, on which stand a mortar and pestle, a vase with flowers, a pot and two plates. In the right-hand corner stands a bed, and from this hangs the legend on a piece of paper: “As the old ones sing, so will the young ones pipe.”

Plate XL, by J. B. Weenix (1621–60), shows a simple interior from the Brussels Museum—a lady at her toilet. The chair on which she sits is very interesting, with its low back, carved top rail and spirally turned stretchers. The “table carpet” is a superb Oriental rug, and the mirror with its massive frame is a magnificent example of carving and gilding. The candlestick is also massive. The windows, flush with the walls, are set with small panes, and are furnished with a curtain.

A very interesting interior of the seventeenth century occurs in a picture by G. Metsu in The Hague Gallery. In a room with a very fine chimney-piece supported by marble pillars, and above which is a fine picture and a beautiful chandelier, a lady is standing improvising upon a lute. Another lady seated at a table is taking down the music, while a man looks over her shoulder. The lady is seated upon a low-back leather chair studded with heavy nails. Her foot rests upon a foot-warmer. The table has heavy ball-feet connected with stretchers, and the heavy cloth or carpet is pushed back carelessly. A tray or “standish,” holding the ink bottles, etc., is carelessly placed upon the folds of the cover. The lady holds a quill pen in her hand.

No subject was more congenial to the Dutch painters than scenes of home life and familiar interiors. Not only were Jan Steen, Teniers, Dou, Metsu and others of like rank attracted to the home, but an army of mediocre masters devoted their talents to this subject. If the works of the “Little Masters” found their way into royal and princely collections, the works of more obscure painters decorated the homes of the citizens, country people and colonists. The stranger who visited the Dutch cities was amazed at the many interiors and landscapes that were exhibited in the booths, at the fairs, and under the verandahs in front of the houses of the masters. These were often bought for a small sum by travellers, who sold them in their own country at considerable profit.

When a bride went to her new home, she often found that it had been furnished from top to bottom; but this was not always the case. As a rule, wealthy burghers did not do this. The young wife, accompanied by one or two of her near relatives and followed by a couple of servants and a truckman, went about from shop to shop to select what she needed. This was called “ten huisraet vaeren” (going furnishing), and De Vrij devotes a chapter to this pleasant occupation under the title of “De vrou vaert ten huysraet” (the wife goes out to furnish). In his time the old simplicity had vanished in favour of a general luxury hardly equalled to-day. De Vrij, therefore, allows his wealthy lady to purchase “down beds, fine plush and wadded coverlids, costly hangings, large Venetian mirrors, Indian crackle porcelain, lounging chairs, Turkish carpets, Amsterdam gold leather, costly paintings, a silver service, a sacredaan cupboard, an ebony table, a curio cabinet, a napkin kas, a large quantity of napkins, tablecloths and other fine household linen, and a thousand other articles.”

One has only to glance at the contemporary inventories to realize the wealth and luxury of the period. It is only in a few instances, such as the old Castle of Develstein, when occupied by Cornelius van Beveren, that the old simplicity rules; for the old grey town on the Merwede (Dordrecht), although the richest and oldest, was not the most luxurious in Holland. It conserved its own customs, while Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft and other cities vied with The Hague.

One or two large chests always stood in the bedroom. In these linen and clothing were kept. As a rule, the chest was of sacredaan, with brass or silver mounts, and neatly lined inside with cloth.

Linen was also kept in the great kasten. These were ornately carved or panelled, made of different woods, and often inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Some of them cost as much as 1,000 fl. Rare porcelain was always placed on the top of the kas.

The great linen chest or coffer, and the great cupboard in which household linen and articles of clothing were kept, were among the most important articles of furniture in a Dutch household. The chest was tall and wide, and made, as a rule, of lignum vitÆ, or sacredaan, or other East India wood, frequently covered outside with leather and lined inside with linen or some other textile. It was often mounted with brass or silver, sometimes richly wrought.

The cupboard, or kas, was very broad and very tall, and was made of oak, ebony, or walnut, and stood on four heavy balls, which were often repeated on the four corners of the top, and are described by Van Nispen as “guardians of the porcelain ornaments,” which adorned the top.

As many as ten or twelve each of chests and kasten have been noticed in old inventories in one dwelling, and they are described according to the wood of which they are made, or the name of the room in which they stood. Accordingly, we read of coffers and cupboards of oak, sacredaan, cherry, and plum-tree wood, blue and red grained East India wood, iron coffers, Prussia leather and lacquered coffers, the office coffer, the office cupboard, the kitchen cupboard, the cupboard of the green painted room, of the gold leather room, of the tapestry room, etc., etc. Let us examine some of the cupboards in the home of Sara de Roovere, second wife of Adriaan van Blyenborgh, Keeper of the Count’s Mint, and known as a Latin poet. This home is in Dordrecht.

In the “gold leather room” stand several cupboards, some of which are of rare wood and richly carved. These cupboards contain a rich store of snow-white linen, damask tablecloths, napkins, bed-clothing, towels, shirts, bibs, neckerchiefs, frills, handkerchiefs, etc., “saved from grandmother’s time with economy, or inherited from great-aunt and kept as precious treasures,” all for her own use, or as wedding gifts to her children, Jacob, Adriaan, Charlotte, or Adriana. Like many another Dutch lady, every penny won at play, every present, and everything that could be saved from the household money, this thrifty housewife devoted to increase the treasure. A great part of the day she spent with her daughters in the front room (voorhuis), or with the maids in the kitchen, at the spinning-wheel, the sewing-cushions, the work-table, or the ironing-board. She considered it an honour to have a rich Linnenkast, and she was proud of being called a “house jewel careful of the third part” and deserving of the name, as she possessed “mountains of her own make and foreign produced stuff.” Her inventory shows that she possessed no less than twenty-four dozen chemises, forty dozen tablecloths and napkins, and coffers full of uncut linen.

Some burghers’ wives had their linen made up by the seamstress.

In another cupboard, called the “scalloped,” owing to the many St. James’ shells carved upon it, Joffer van Blyenborgh kept one of the most costly articles of her attire—the breast or forepiece. These breast-pieces, or stomachers, were worn on the corsage, to which they were fastened by means of pretty silk cords. They were made of silk, satin, or velvet, and often profusely decorated with pearls or jewels, and sometimes cost as much as £10,000.

Vrouwe van Blyenborgh had coffers filled with petticoats of scarlet cloth and also of wool cloth, coarse grey, black and white linen under petticoats, jackets, hoop skirts, mantles and rain cloaks. Her cupboards and coffers also included: rich robes of sarcenet and serge of fire colour, rose colour and ground colour, covered with ribbons, bows, galloons; bodices embroidered and trimmed with lace and fringe; petticoats garnished with fringe of fire colour; grey cloth dresses lined with blue serge; and Japanese night robes of dead leaf colour, embellished with aurora hued flowers and lined with wadding. Neatly folded among these rich articles were white satin robes lined with amaranth taffeta, black velvet robes with cloth of silver, and petticoats embroidered with golden flowers and lined with taffeta d’Avignon. She also had some cloth of gold valued at £16 a yard.

Dress and furniture became so extravagant during this period that the stage ridiculed the lavish expenditure, and the other censor of public morals—the pulpit—denounced the needless splendour as degrading before God and men. The Dordrecht preacher, Joh. Becius, exclaimed: “Are the pride and splendour of to-day more extreme than with the people of Israel? Certainly not; but rather worse; for women go about, not only with bare necks, but half-bared bosoms partly covered with a thin net or cambric cloth—and in the robes and dresses they are more splendid than the proud peacock, more changeable than the chameleon or the weather-cock on the church steeple. They almost dance along the streets dressed up as dolls for a kermesse; and these creatures, so gaily attired, vie with each other to enter the Lord’s House where is preached Christ born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes.”

Among the other vanities carefully preserved in the drawers and on the shelves were the fans, masks, lace and jewels; chÂtelaines, ribbons, hats, bonnets and caps; silk, cloth and serge stockings richly embroidered; fancy shoes and slippers with high heels, and leather and silk gloves sweetly perfumed. Vrouwe van Blyenborgh had a number of thin, beautiful, scented, leather gloves; a large stock of “shoework” of silk, satin, gold and silver leather, and yellow, green and scarlet stockings. We must not forget to mention the round silver mirrors suspended from gold hooks at the belt, and the delicately painted miniatures worn as lockets or breast-pins.

The great kas was as conspicuous in the houses of the Dutch colonists as it was at home. Every inventory of the prosperous burgher of New Amsterdam mentions it, and it is highly appraised. To take a few instances: “One great case covered with French nutwood and two black knots (balls) under it, £13” (1685); “a cupboard or case of French nutwood, £20” (1686); a white oak cupboard, £2 5s. (1688); a large cupboard, £6 (1690); cupboard for clothes, a press and porcelain, £5; and a “Holland cubbart furnished with earthenware and porcelain,” £15 (1692); a great black walnut cupboard, £10 (1702); a Dutch painted cupboard, £1 (1702); a black walnut cupboard, £9 (1703); and a case of nutwood, £10 (1712). The kas was often a valued bequest: Mrs. van Varick had one “great Dutch kas that could not be removed from Flatbush”; and, therefore, was sold for £25.

In the rooms of the Castle of Develstein were standing mirrors and mirrors in ebony, metal and crystal frames, on the walls; and in the “salon” was a mirror of Venetian glass. In this room was seen the “kingwood hall buffet,” where, on festive or ceremonial occasions, the family silver and crystal were exhibited, such as silver plates, dishes, spoons, knives, beakers, decanters and mugs, silver-mounted horns and night cups—all engraved with the family arms, or with conventional rhymes or mottoes. In the “salon” or “show salon” was placed the “root-wood (root of the walnut tree) table,” formed like steps (a survival of the dressoir), on which the rarest and finest porcelains were shown. Here also was the richly carved walnut kas containing a rare display of fine china, while on the wall walnut racks, beautifully carved and ornamented with gold, the handsomest plaques were arranged. There was also a pewter table in this room, on which stood many pewter dishes, cups, tankards, etc., engraved with the family arms; but most of the pewter was kept in the pewter cupboards (tinkasten), in the pewter room, or in rows upon the dresser in the kitchen, ready for immediate use. Silver table-ware was not in general use, for pewter took its place as an everyday article. Among the glassware shown in this room were cordial, wine and beer glasses, chalices and loving-cups of white and green glass, engraved with arms, ornaments, proverbs, and shell-like Venetian glasses, supposed to be proof against poison.

Two interesting examples of kasten are given on Plates XLIII and XLIV.

Plate XLIII represents a large Dutch kas, or buffet À deux corps, from the Rijks Museum, Amsterdam. This magnificent specimen is of solid ebony inlaid with ivory. Its grooved columns, panels and niches break up the plain surface with much variety. It stands on eight bulb feet. It is similar in shape to the English “court cupboard” of the same century.

Plate XLIV represents a large armoire, or kas, from the Cluny Museum, Paris. This was made in Holland. The front is ornamented with three pilasters with carved capitals, between which are the two doors or wings decorated with carved panels. The cornice is ornamented with three lions’ heads. Beneath the columns are drawers with simple knobs. This piece of furniture stands on flattened bulb feet.

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, the cabinet was found in every home of moderate wealth. In an inventory of 1679, “a root-wood cabinet, with Japanese small dishes and ‘colossol’ (very large) pots under its high feet” is mentioned. These cabinets stood on high legs, sometimes with only one drawer underneath. They were frequently made of rough pinewood painted red; but often they were very handsome (see Plate XXXI). In the bedroom of Lady Reepmaker in the Castle of Develstein there was a “cabinet-maker’s small cupboard to put dresses in, one one-drawer cabinet on a high base, one hair-dressing table, one ditto chair, one ditto mirror with ebony frame, one gold leather comb-holder, and the ‘nachtbouquet’” (night bouquet), a piece of furniture used by the upper classes after 1672, in which everything relating to the toilet of the period was found, such as: a silver framed mirror, powder boxes, silver trays, pin-books, patch-boxes, hair and clothes brushes, and other small toilet articles, as well as silver candlesticks, snuffers and snuffer-trays.

When a wealthy lady sat in front of her “dressing-cloth,” as her dressing-table was familiarly called, she had before her an array of bottles and boxes containing perfumes, powders, paints and beauty patches, as well as a treasure-house of pearls, diamonds, rings and bracelets set with glittering stones, ear-rings, necklaces, chains of pearls, gold and silver pins, spangles, half-moons, so that she looked like “a sun surrounded by suns,” or a “diamond surrounded by rubies.”

Plate XLIII.—Kas of Ebony and Ivory.
RIJKS MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM.