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Lot Essay
Thomas Bogaert was born in Utrecht. In that city he was apprenticed to Willem Crom and Dirck Vuystingh, becoming a master of the Utrecht Silversmith's Guild in 1622 (see catalogue of the exhibition, Meesterwerken in zilver, Amsterdams zilver 1520-1820, Amsterdam, Museum Willet-Holthuysen, 1984-1985, p. 202). In 1625, he married Anneke Claesd. van Ewijck from Amsterdam. He moved to Amsterdam some time prior to 1629, the date of his earliest work assayed there. He was alderman of the Amsterdam Silversmith's Guild in 1635 and became its dean in 1640. During his Amsterdam period Bogaert seems to have mainly produced silver for the Catholic service. Quite a large number of these objects have survived.
Surviving works made by Bogaert during his early Utrecht period are extraordinarily rare. Indeed the only extant pieces other than the present salts appear to be a similar pair in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch (see E. Alfred Jones, 'Old Silver in the Possession of the Duke of Buccleuch, K.T.' in Old Furniture, July, 1929, pp. 135 and 138). In addition there is a salt-cellar base in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (see C.C. Oman, The Golden Age of Dutch Silver, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1953, pl. 17). The present salts clearly show the influence of the Utrecht silversmith Adam van Vianen (1569?/1627), whose earliest salts of this type are dated 1620 and 1621 and are now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (see Molen, J.R. ter op. cit.)
Surviving works made by Bogaert during his early Utrecht period are extraordinarily rare. Indeed the only extant pieces other than the present salts appear to be a similar pair in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch (see E. Alfred Jones, 'Old Silver in the Possession of the Duke of Buccleuch, K.T.' in Old Furniture, July, 1929, pp. 135 and 138). In addition there is a salt-cellar base in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (see C.C. Oman, The Golden Age of Dutch Silver, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1953, pl. 17). The present salts clearly show the influence of the Utrecht silversmith Adam van Vianen (1569?/1627), whose earliest salts of this type are dated 1620 and 1621 and are now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (see Molen, J.R. ter op. cit.)