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Lot Essay
Wedding caskets and medals were often engraved with texts and scenes concerning love and marriage. The finest medals were those made by the Amsterdam masters Abraham van den Hecken, the monogrammist AB and Michel le Blon and the Hoorn silversmiths Reynder and Claes Bel [1]. In the province of Noord-Holland medals were also used as lids for circular wedding caskets. In the present case two one-sided medals are used.
Popular representations on these medals were the wedding in Kana, marriage scenes, the meeting of Jacob and Rachel and the meeting of Eliezer and Rebecca. A legend or a text on the backside of the medal usually explains the depicted scenes.
It is striking that the Hoorn silversmith Claes Bel in at least two instances combined the meeting of Rebecca and Eliezer with a legend concerning the meeting of Jacob and Rebecca. In the case of the present medal the meeting of Jacob and Rebecca is depicted indeed, as is indicated by the legend.
According to the book of Genesis Jacob met Rachel at the well of Harran (Gen. 29:9-30). Here Jacob moved the stone from the mouth of the well, so Rachel could water her father's sheep. How this love-story developed can be read in the legend: Siet herders liefd Vernoecht Voor al Sijn Slavernij als Jacob Rachel Stelde aan sijn groene sijd. The text refers to the 14 years Jacob had to work for Laban, Rachel's father, before they finally got permission to marry.
The reverse of the casket shows a man and a woman holding each other's right hand. On top of their hands we see two burning hearts held together by a rope, which is locked with a padlock. Between the couple death rises from the ground. In his right hand he is holding a key. The legend reads: Hou daer Jonckfrouw die ick bemin en anders geen. Daer is mijn trou mijn hert en sin naest Godt alleen, a very common text on 17th century medals and caskets.
An almost identical scene can be found on a medal which is attributed to the Amsterdam silversmith Abraham van den Hecken (ca.1608-1634) [2]. The text on this medal helps us to understand the scene on the present casket. The text reads: daer deen in dander hart Door Liefd geslooten wart, Siet men veel vreuchde spruyten. Druck angst of lijden groot Niet anders als de doot kan tselve weer ontsluyten. So, only death can dissolve marriage, and for this he will need the key he is holding in his right hand.
The obverse of the present wedding-casket resembles a wedding-medal attributed to Reynder Bel in the collection of Rijksmuseum Munten en Penningkabinet in Leiden [3]. J.W. Fredriks attributed the latter to Bel. Although perhaps slightly less refined, the representation of the meeting of Jacob and Rachel is almost identical, just like the gracefully engraved legend within four concentric circles. In the legend we find among other things the characteristic letter 'e' and the star at the beginning of the text, which played an important role in Frederiks' attribution.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
[1] Frederiks, J.W., Dutch Silver II, The Hague, 1958, p.vii.
[2] Frederiks, 1958, (note 1) p.53, no.147, plate 43.
[3] Frederiks, 1958, (note 1) No. 377, plate 173.
See illustration
Popular representations on these medals were the wedding in Kana, marriage scenes, the meeting of Jacob and Rachel and the meeting of Eliezer and Rebecca. A legend or a text on the backside of the medal usually explains the depicted scenes.
It is striking that the Hoorn silversmith Claes Bel in at least two instances combined the meeting of Rebecca and Eliezer with a legend concerning the meeting of Jacob and Rebecca. In the case of the present medal the meeting of Jacob and Rebecca is depicted indeed, as is indicated by the legend.
According to the book of Genesis Jacob met Rachel at the well of Harran (Gen. 29:9-30). Here Jacob moved the stone from the mouth of the well, so Rachel could water her father's sheep. How this love-story developed can be read in the legend: Siet herders liefd Vernoecht Voor al Sijn Slavernij als Jacob Rachel Stelde aan sijn groene sijd. The text refers to the 14 years Jacob had to work for Laban, Rachel's father, before they finally got permission to marry.
The reverse of the casket shows a man and a woman holding each other's right hand. On top of their hands we see two burning hearts held together by a rope, which is locked with a padlock. Between the couple death rises from the ground. In his right hand he is holding a key. The legend reads: Hou daer Jonckfrouw die ick bemin en anders geen. Daer is mijn trou mijn hert en sin naest Godt alleen, a very common text on 17th century medals and caskets.
An almost identical scene can be found on a medal which is attributed to the Amsterdam silversmith Abraham van den Hecken (ca.1608-1634) [2]. The text on this medal helps us to understand the scene on the present casket. The text reads: daer deen in dander hart Door Liefd geslooten wart, Siet men veel vreuchde spruyten. Druck angst of lijden groot Niet anders als de doot kan tselve weer ontsluyten. So, only death can dissolve marriage, and for this he will need the key he is holding in his right hand.
The obverse of the present wedding-casket resembles a wedding-medal attributed to Reynder Bel in the collection of Rijksmuseum Munten en Penningkabinet in Leiden [3]. J.W. Fredriks attributed the latter to Bel. Although perhaps slightly less refined, the representation of the meeting of Jacob and Rachel is almost identical, just like the gracefully engraved legend within four concentric circles. In the legend we find among other things the characteristic letter 'e' and the star at the beginning of the text, which played an important role in Frederiks' attribution.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
[1] Frederiks, J.W., Dutch Silver II, The Hague, 1958, p.vii.
[2] Frederiks, 1958, (note 1) p.53, no.147, plate 43.
[3] Frederiks, 1958, (note 1) No. 377, plate 173.
See illustration