These silver and gold toys were so artistically made that they attracted the attention of many travellers, who paid large sums for them. Many beautiful and quaint specimens are therefore to be seen in the European Museums and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sets of dolls’ porcelain were also collected in this century and preserved in show-cases or china-cabinets, with a collection of dolls’ clothes. These cabinets of dolls’ articles were even found in farmhouses, and sometimes jewellery and small articles of value were kept in them.
Many of the poorer houses in the seventeenth century were built of wood or stone, with wooden gables that projected far over the narrow street, so far indeed that the occupants of the one could shake hands across the street with those in the opposite house. Many of these houses were gradually replaced by newer houses of a more regular aspect. As the century wears on they increase in height and solidity. As a rule, the house is of three storeys, with a tiled roof. In the lower floor there is a row of small windows with small panes set in lead and protected by ornamental iron-work. These windows admit light into the small office and entrance-hall, and run along the whole width of the house above the “luifel” (verandah), under which in the daytime wares are offered for sale, and where on fine evenings the burgher sits with his wife and family. Sometimes the thrifty housewife may be seen sitting under the verandah knitting, spinning, sewing, or darning, with her feet on a foot-rest, and the children playing around her. The baby’s cradle is sometimes brought out as well. On Saturdays the children are bathed and washed under the “luifel,” without the public taking the least notice. Gentlemen’s houses, however, have no verandahs, but both sides of the door or gate are flanked by windows with shutters, and this door is on a level with the entrance. The arrangement of the windows on the second floor is like that of the first. Chrysostomus Napolitanus says in 1516, “The dwelling-houses have nearly all the same shape and architecture. The back walls do not rise very high, but end in a point and step-like.” These gable steps were sometimes ornamented with stone vases or images, and the coping was also decorated. In the seventeenth century the houses were built narrower but higher, as also the windows, while the wire screens and the verandahs gradually disappeared. The copings and ornamentations of the cornice were, however, not less richly sculptured; and, under the top windows, stone figures, Caryatides, lions and coats-of-arms were often introduced. In the third storey there were one or two windows, above which the arms of the proprietor were carved. Instead of the armorial device, sometimes a figure, a pair of compasses, or a bell was introduced, from which the house took its name; or again the family name would be carved in gigantic letters. In the course of time the name of the occupant was used less than the name of the house in which he lived. We find mention of the house Blijenburgh, Moesienbroeck, Cruysenborch, Nuysenborch, Blijensteyn, Kleyn Jerusalem, ’t Huys Beaumont, Groot en Kleyn Rosendaeal, etc. Behind the houses were gardens with summer-houses, surrounded with fences of trellis-work. In the common houses a stone-paved hallway leads through the house to an open back yard, where there is a grass plot to bleach the clothes on, and where a room is built with a fireplace and kitchen. From the vestibule a stairway leads to the second floor, which communicates with a smaller stairway and often with a ladder to the floor above.
Let us enter a rich home and see how the rooms are arranged. We pass through a great oaken door painted green and furnished with a heavy iron knocker, to enter a high and commodious vestibule, the walls of which are hung with pictures, deers’ heads or other hunting trophies. On one side is a broad oak staircase with a lion, griffin, or dragon beautifully carved at the base, and holding in his paws the same coat-of-arms that is carved in front of the gable. Facing the entrance hangs a magnificent oil painting. In less wealthy homes the vestibule is encased with blue and white tiles, and the floor is also laid in the same, and a carved oak or stone bench faces the door. As this “voorhuis,” or vestibule, is used by the less fashionable as a living apartment, there also stands here a table, and on the wall a mirror in an ebony frame, and many polished brass vessels and Delft dishes and plates give a homelike character to the spot. A house of this type has a verandah outside, on and under which the small merchant conducts his business, although his office or “comptoir” is at the back. If this happens to be a school, the master or mistress teaches his or her class under the “luifel”; or, if an inn, this is the meeting or smoking-room.
The “comptoir” is also found in the homes of the rich, and the lady of the house often sits there with her children, not because it is the most attractive place, but in order to keep the better rooms neat and clean. In rich houses many of the rooms are known by individual names,—some according to the use to which they were put, others on account of the hangings, the name of the occupant, or an important piece of furniture. Hence we have the salon, dining-room, show-room, the sleeping-room, the little cabinet (office), the gold leather room, the damask room, the matted room, the room of Adam and Eve, Mr. Arends’s room, Miss Emerentia’s room, Mr. Cornelius van Beveren’s sleeping-room, etc., etc.
In wealthy homes the walls of some rooms were encased in tiles, decorated with painted figures, flowers, arms, or pictorial scenes or mottoes; and upon these hung many fine paintings in richly carved ebony frames. In some houses every available space on the wall in every room was occupied by a picture; so that from top to bottom the rooms were filled with masterpieces of art. Some rooms on the ground floor were hung with splendid tapestries, representing hunting-scenes, Biblical stories, coats-of-arms, mythological and historical legends and stories, etc., etc. Other rooms were hung with embroidered materials, with red velvet, with gold or silver flowered borders, or with gold or stamped leather of various colours and patterns. Sometimes, also, the walls were panelled and wainscotted, particularly where beds or cupboards stood. In poor houses the walls were simply whitewashed or covered with square tiles of gay colours. The ordinary burghers strewed their floors with fine sand, and often arranged it so deftly by means of the broom in a design of flowers or geometrical figures that one would think a figured carpet was laid upon the floor. In rich homes the floor, as a rule, was covered with fine Spanish matting; and when guests came, a rug or carpet was spread over this, but on their departure it was carefully rolled up and put away. Some of the floors—often those of the garret—were laid in coloured tiles.
One of the principal ornaments in rich houses was the painted glass. In some rooms every window was adorned with painted glass, but in less wealthy homes one window had to suffice. This was generally a round one painted in gaudy hues and neatly framed. Such glass was a favourite present. Sometimes the engraver had inscribed upon it Dutch or Latin proverbs; but more frequently it was embellished with the coat-of-arms of the master of the house, portraits, landscapes, Biblical and popular stories, such as Reynard the Fox, The Adventures of the four Heems Children, or The Drolleries of Tyll Eulenspiegel. The ceilings rested on heavy oak beams with many cross beams; and even in rich houses ceilings and beams were artistically painted. In the centre of the ceiling was hung a brass, or gilded wooden chandelier for wax or tallow candles; and additional light was derived from sconces fastened to the walls and on either side of the chimney-piece. Occasionally the candelabra were of crystal. In some rooms models of ships correctly rigged hung from the beams; and sometimes stuffed animals, heads, fish, weapons, and wedding ornaments and favours kept them company.
The chimney-piece always received a good deal of attention. It was very wide and high. Wood and peat were both burned on the large silver, brass, iron or steel andirons. The space in the overmantel was often painted by the best master available, or was occupied by a painting in a carved frame. On either side of the picture were sconces containing wax candles that illuminated the painting at night. The broad chimney shelf was occupied with Japanese and Chinese porcelains and lacquers; and in the summer time the pot that was suspended from a crane in the chimney was taken away and replaced by large porcelain vases and beakers. A handsome chimney cloth was usually hung just below the shelf.
Being exceedingly economical, the Dutch could not easily squander money for pleasures or recreations, but for the “home” they would spend lavishly. A handsome piece of furniture or silver, beautiful porcelain, rare tulips, rich curtains and rugs, valuable paintings, fine glass, and curios from the Far East would induce the opulent Dutchman to part with large sums; and his wife spent the greater part of her life in ornamenting and beautifying the home, taking care of the treasures it contained, and, above all, in keeping the house and its contents clean and in order. A rich merchant, Asselijn, said:—
Ziet wat een fraei kasteel! wat heit het me gecost!