A rare and fine Dutch silver dish

MAKER'S MARK AN HOUR GLASS (UNIDENTIFIED), MIDDELBURG, 1629

Details

A rare and fine Dutch silver dish
Maker's mark an hour glass (unidentified), Middelburg, 1629
Octagonal with incurved corners, the centre engraved with a coat-of arms, the rim finely engraved with hunting scene "zwijnenjacht", amongst stylised flowers and foliage, applied moulded rim
29.7 cm. (11.5in.) and 29 cm. (11.3in.) diam.
underneath
494 gr

Provenance

Sale collection Smulders, Koninklijke Kunstzaal Kleykamp, The Hague, 1937, no. 411
The coat-of-arms may be those of Angeli

Literature

J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, Vol. III, The Hague, 1960, no. 15 with illustration
K.A. Citroen, Een zilveren puntschotel uit 1633, Bulletin Museum Boymans van Beuningen, 14 (1963), pp. 86-95, no. 2

Exhibited

Leeuwarden, Fries Museum, Catalogus der Tentoonstelling van Goud en Zilverwerk gehouden ter gelegenheid van het honderdjarige bestaan van het Fries Genootschap van Geschiedenis, Oudheidkundige en Taalkunde, Fries Zilver, 15 August - 15 September 1927, no. 83

Lot Essay

This Dutch octagonal 'puntschotel' is one of the rarest items of Dutch silver to appear on market in recent years. Only seven of these dishes are known, all of which bear a date letter of before 1640. Five dishes were made in Amsterdam, one in Utrecht and two in Middelburg. This example is struck with a maker's mark of an hour glass whereas another, in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, has as a unidentified maker's mark of a lily, the engraving of which is signed by Johannes de Looff and dated 1631. (A.L. Den Blaauwen (ed.), Nederlands Zilver 1580-1830, The Hague, 1979)
These Dutch 'puntschotels' were already prized in the 17th century and do not appear frequently on the celebrated Dutch still-life pictures. Abraham van Beyeren however did depict them and one still-life by Jan Davidsz. de Heem also depicts one of these pieces. Other Dutch examples are illustrated in:
J.W. Frederiks, Dutch silver, Part III, nos. 14 and 44;
J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, Part II, nos. 103, 104,198 and 199;
B.R.M. de Neeve, Een vroeg 17e eeuwse puntschotel, Bulletin Museum Boymans van Beuningen, 10 (1959), pp. 29-38
A similar dish made in Amsterdam in 1632 also by an unidentified maker (J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, Part II, no. 103) was sold in these Rooms on 1 December 1988, lot 625. (NLG. 207.000) see illustration

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