MAKER'S MARK OF JACOB HENDRIK STELLINGWERFF, AMSTERDAM, 1807-1809

Johannes Kinker (1764-1845) was an important Dutch philologist and literary-theoritician. Important for his development as a literary-theoritician were his activities in the Hollandsche Maatschappij van fraaije kunsten en wetenschappen (The Dutch Society of fine arts and sciences). The inscription on the dish tells us that it was presented to Johannes Kinker by the Maatschappij on 1 October 1808. The dish is probably the extra award mentioned in the minutes of the committee-meeting of 30 September 1808. On that day a jury decided to award a golden medal to the anonymous entry in the Dutch Prosody contest (Hollandsche Prosodia prijsstof). Because of the superb quality of the entry the jury even dicided to present an extra award to the writer for the great pains he took. In the minutes we read: 'nog een andere blijk van erkentenis voor de onbegrijpelijke moeite en arbeid welke aan het bewerken van dit onderwerp noodzakelijk zijn verknogt geweest'. The next day it turned out that Johannes Kinker, chairman of the Maatschappij, was the author of the highly praised treatise.
In the dissertation Johannes Kinker en zijn literaire theorie by G.J. Vis, 1 October 1808 is called one of the most important days in the life of Johannes Kinker. The treatise on Dutch Prosody is called the summit of his literary-theoretic work.

Literature:
G.J. Vis, Johannes Kinker en zijn literaire theorie. Bijdrage tot een interpretatie van de voorredes bij zijn gedichten (1819-1821), Zwolle, 1967. (Dissertation)
HSS., Not. Holl. Mij, I (II*C 17), University Library, Amsterdam
See illustration