CARVED DOOR FROM GRONINGEN (17TH CENTURY)
IRON LOCK-PLATE (16TH CENTURY)
IRON LOCK-PLATE (DATED 1587)
A feature common to Dutch rooms is the small cupboard in the wall, wherein many and sundry articles were stored. The recess is sometimes merely covered by a curtain that may be drawn to and fro, such as can be seen at the left hand of the window in the coloured reproduction from Leeuwarden given here. But generally a wooden door was fitted to the opening. Some of these doors, with one or two panels, are quite plainly made. Others, highly decorated with carvings and metalwork, furnish examples of beautiful craftsmanship. Two are here illustrated (pages [143] and [144]), which show how well and cunningly artificers in wood and metal exercised their skill. Both are of sixteenth-century workmanship, and are now in the Rijks Museum. Apart from the good wood-carving, the ironwork on each is notable. The three hinges, attached to the larger door, all have peculiarly graceful branched terminations; while the hinge of the second example is pierced and engraved with a floral pattern. The lock-plates, also, are admirably devised.
IRON LOCK AND BOLT
