Lot Essay
The present case may be assumed to have been made in the Dutch East-Indies on the occasion of the birth of Johanna Wilhelmina Hommel (1757-1763).
She was baptised on the 8th of November 1757 in Batavia and was the fourth child of Wilhelm August Hommel, supreme surgeon of the V.O.C. and surgeon of Batavia, and Anna Magdalena Knikman, presumably married in the first half of 1752.
According to the registers of Dutch citizens in the Dutch East-Indies of the Bloys van Treslong Prins collection at the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie in The Hague, she was baptized on 8 November 1757, which does not concur with the date on the casket. The same registers however mention the death of Johnanna's mother on 13 June 1758, which would seem to confirm that the date given on the box is incorrect. (the third figure of the date is illegible)
The coat of arms of the Hommel family as shown on the case can not be traced elsewhere. Without doubt the letters "W A H" on the case stand for Johanna's father Willem August Hommel. Johanna's eldest sister Anna Geertruida (1752-1806) was the only child that lived to repatriate with her father to Cape Town in circa 1767-8, where in 1768 she married Laurens Spengler (1741-1811), rear-admiral and mayor of Cuijk and St. Agatha.
We are grateful to Egbert Wolleswinkel of the Stichting Iconografisch Bureau, The Hague, for his help in researching this lot
In the former Dutch Indies the local habit of chewing sirih was assimilated by the Portugese and later by the Dutch. A wad of sirih was made up of five ingredients: a piece of sirih leaf, a piece of penang nut, some lime, some gambir and some tobacco. Eastern hosts would offer their guests some sirih to consolidate peace and friendship, and both men and women were expected to accept the gift. The various ingredients were kept in special caskets containing several compartments. The richness or simplicity of the caskets showed the relative wealth of their owners. The commonest caskets were made of sandel wood, walnut or ebony decorated with silver mounts. More expensive caskets were constructed from tortoiseshell, while the best examples were made from ivory or mother-of-pearl. Most were carved or engraved with naturalistic flowers and leaf patterns paralleled in the designs seen on colonial furniture.
The silver mounts are rarely marked. Silver items were only hallmarked by European silversmiths and by the few native craftsmen who had become Christians.
Literature:
Cat. "Wonen in de wijde wereld", Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, 1963/1964
Cat. "Zilver uit de tijd van de verenigde oost-indische compagnie", Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1966/1967
Cat. "V.O.C.-zilver", Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1983
Brochure: "Een speurtocht naar VOC-zilver", Haags Gemeentemuseum, sept. 1970
Art.: "Een zilveren sirihbladhouder", J. Veenendaal, Bulletin Rijksmuseum, 35e jaargang, no. 1, 1987
Art.: "Het sirih-genot bij de westerlingen", dr. J.H. de Graaf, Verslagen en Aanwinsten CNO, 1976/1977
She was baptised on the 8th of November 1757 in Batavia and was the fourth child of Wilhelm August Hommel, supreme surgeon of the V.O.C. and surgeon of Batavia, and Anna Magdalena Knikman, presumably married in the first half of 1752.
According to the registers of Dutch citizens in the Dutch East-Indies of the Bloys van Treslong Prins collection at the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie in The Hague, she was baptized on 8 November 1757, which does not concur with the date on the casket. The same registers however mention the death of Johnanna's mother on 13 June 1758, which would seem to confirm that the date given on the box is incorrect. (the third figure of the date is illegible)
The coat of arms of the Hommel family as shown on the case can not be traced elsewhere. Without doubt the letters "W A H" on the case stand for Johanna's father Willem August Hommel. Johanna's eldest sister Anna Geertruida (1752-1806) was the only child that lived to repatriate with her father to Cape Town in circa 1767-8, where in 1768 she married Laurens Spengler (1741-1811), rear-admiral and mayor of Cuijk and St. Agatha.
We are grateful to Egbert Wolleswinkel of the Stichting Iconografisch Bureau, The Hague, for his help in researching this lot
In the former Dutch Indies the local habit of chewing sirih was assimilated by the Portugese and later by the Dutch. A wad of sirih was made up of five ingredients: a piece of sirih leaf, a piece of penang nut, some lime, some gambir and some tobacco. Eastern hosts would offer their guests some sirih to consolidate peace and friendship, and both men and women were expected to accept the gift. The various ingredients were kept in special caskets containing several compartments. The richness or simplicity of the caskets showed the relative wealth of their owners. The commonest caskets were made of sandel wood, walnut or ebony decorated with silver mounts. More expensive caskets were constructed from tortoiseshell, while the best examples were made from ivory or mother-of-pearl. Most were carved or engraved with naturalistic flowers and leaf patterns paralleled in the designs seen on colonial furniture.
The silver mounts are rarely marked. Silver items were only hallmarked by European silversmiths and by the few native craftsmen who had become Christians.
Literature:
Cat. "Wonen in de wijde wereld", Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, 1963/1964
Cat. "Zilver uit de tijd van de verenigde oost-indische compagnie", Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1966/1967
Cat. "V.O.C.-zilver", Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1983
Brochure: "Een speurtocht naar VOC-zilver", Haags Gemeentemuseum, sept. 1970
Art.: "Een zilveren sirihbladhouder", J. Veenendaal, Bulletin Rijksmuseum, 35e jaargang, no. 1, 1987
Art.: "Het sirih-genot bij de westerlingen", dr. J.H. de Graaf, Verslagen en Aanwinsten CNO, 1976/1977