Forged Together
In the Forged Together: Masters in Silver exhibition, the Museum participated in a unique partnership project: Boijmans at the Neighbours, an initiative of the Droom en Daad Foundation. The project enabled the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen to continue to be on display and accessible in the city of Rotterdam and environs while the museum was closed for renovations. Watch the video here.
This exhibition of beautiful silver closed on 17 January 2021.
The exhibition
Our exhibition space on the ground floor was set up as a special room where visitors could admire silver showpieces as well as paintings by Dutch masters like Jan Steen and Gerard Dou. The combination of the Dutch silver on display – beakers, tobacco boxes and salt cellars – and masterpieces in which these same objects are beautifully depicted made the exhibition exceptional.
Two collections forged together
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen’s collection and our own collection were forged together through silver objects that illustrate the history of silversmiths and Assay Office assayers. Alongside maker’s marks, coats of arms of cities and date letters, silver objects were also stamped with tax marks. Assay Office inspectors, known as assayers, not only tested the purity of the silver but also collected the tax on precious metals.
Gerard Dou
A Young Woman at Her Toilet
Gerard Dou was fourteen when he became Rembrandt’s first apprentice. In 1632, he set up as an independent artist in Leiden and his fame grew quickly. The enormous influence of his master was clear to see in his early works. He later devoted himself to producing genre pieces (scenes of everyday life). Dou’s works are spread across museums around the world, from the Louvre in Paris to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Silversmiths and gold weighers
Tools used by silversmiths and assayers were also on display at the exhibition. For a long time, assaying silver was the domain of gold- and silversmiths. In a display case next to the painting The Gold Weigher by Salomon Koninck (1654) there was a real set of scales for weighing gold and a box of coin weights from our collection, similar to what the painting depicts.
Hansje in de kelder (Jack in the cellar)
This still life by Peter Willebeeck shows off a silver-gilt goblet, silver salt cellar, silver watch and an overturned tazza (known as a Hansje in de kelder). The focal point of the exhibition was a real Hansje in de kelder, a common gift given to expectant mothers in the 17th century. A lovely video explained where the name Hansje in de kelder comes from and how Hansje appears when the tazza is filled.
Jan Steen
Easy Come, Easy Go
This seemingly cosy domestic scene by Jan Steen contains a strong moral message. A plaque on the mantelpiece bears the saying: Soo gewonne, soo verteert, or, in other words, easy come, easy go. It’s a warning about gambling on the game tric trac that is being played in the back room.
Collection of the Assay Office for Gold and Silver
On the first floor of the museum, you could view a selection from the collection of the Assay Office for Gold and Silver. A unique group portrait by Jurriaen Pool, from before the time of the Assay Office, depicts the governors of the Amsterdam gold- and silversmiths’ guild.