KAMPEN, OVERIJSSEL (DATED 1631)
KAMPEN, OVERIJSSEL (DATED ON DORMERS 1634, 1626, 1730, 1630, AND 1619)
GRONINGEN—THE “GOUDKANTOOR” (DATED 1635)
The three following buildings mark a further step forward in architectural development. In general disposition of masses they accord with olden practices, but the decorative details approximate Renaissance ideas. “De Crimpert Salm” at Dordrecht (page [51]), of 1608, presents a rich appearance, but the profuse elaboration of the front was not achieved by accident or haphazard use of material. The balance of the design was obviously well considered. Horizontal motives, intensified below the first-floor level, give a stable base for the lavishness overhead; above, they repeat with less force and are finally carried up the gable by the steps. The vertical lines, obtained principally by the window openings and frames, are similarly reduced towards the top, and there the curved elements are concentrated. Upon a low wall of stone and brick stands the woodwork front of the ground floor. Next in order comes a broad band of mosaic decoration executed in brick and stone (page [50]), bounded at each end by lion-heads in high relief, and divided centrally by a stone panel with a salmon carved upon it. Other mosaics show in the arched spaces over the windows of the next storey (page [50]), while the equivalent space in the gable is filled with arranged brickwork. Moulded bricks and stonework, plain and carved, all contribute to the exuberance of the scheme. The small example from Franeker (page [49]) is built in brick and stone and was erected in 1634. It has the traditional gable but the old type of step, small in height and width, was not followed. Two steps only suffice to reach the gable-head and the side of each is finished with shaped stonework, a method of completion not employed in earlier times. Later in date than these two houses, that from Workum (page [52]) gives an instance both of the persistence of established practice and of the human desire for newness and change. The builder evidently could neither forget nor abandon the general form of house arrangement that he knew so well, and to it he kept. This is especially obvious in the gable which mounts up in quite the Gothic way. The pilasters on the ground and first storey, however, plainly show that an attempt was made to keep in touch with the prevailing mode of the period. Each is terminated by a Corinthian capital and festoons of fruit are carved upon the panels. In these particulars the work, which was completed in 1663, was in agreement with the then advancing Classic taste. The bricks used in the walls are plum coloured and measure but 1¼ inches wide.
GRONINGEN (1661)
