.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
One of the most frequently-depicted furnishings in Dutch 17th Century interiors was the brass chandelier. With this detail painters like Ter Borch, Dou, De Hooch, Metsu, Van Mieris and Steen emphasised the wealth of the interior. Whether this reflects reality has been questioned by Willemijn Fock in her recent study on Dutch interiors depicted in contemporary genre pictures. Research into 17th Century inventories of Holland's wealthy merchant élites reveals how rare these brass chandeliers actually were in private houses. When they do appear in written sources, they tend to date from the late 16th and early 17th Century.
The prosperity of the brass-founderies in Amsterdam must therfore have been due to the demand for chandeliers for the Protestant churches. In 1642, the brass-founder Joost Gerritsz. produced fifteen or more chandeliers for the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, for which he was paid 6700 florins (C. Willemijn Fock, 'Werkelijkheid of shijn. Het beeld van het Hollandse interieur in de zeventiende-eeuwse genreschilderkunst, Oud Holland, 112 (1998) pp. 136-137, cat. nr. 178).
The prosperity of the brass-founderies in Amsterdam must therfore have been due to the demand for chandeliers for the Protestant churches. In 1642, the brass-founder Joost Gerritsz. produced fifteen or more chandeliers for the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, for which he was paid 6700 florins (C. Willemijn Fock, 'Werkelijkheid of shijn. Het beeld van het Hollandse interieur in de zeventiende-eeuwse genreschilderkunst, Oud Holland, 112 (1998) pp. 136-137, cat. nr. 178).