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Plaque

1645-1655 (made)
Artist/Maker
Breghtel, Hans Coenraadt (goldsmith)
Place of origin
The Hague (made)

Plaque showing a child (the Christ child) carrying a cross; embossed and chased, a small hole pierced at the top.


Object details

Category
Metalwork
Object type
Plaque
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Silver, The Netherlands (possibly The Hague), unmarked, perhaps by Christian van Vianen.
Physical description
Plaque showing a child (the Christ child) carrying a cross; embossed and chased, a small hole pierced at the top.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 28.3g
  • Maximum length length: 9cm
  • Maximum width width: 6.9cm
Credit line
Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh
Object history
The size of the plaque suggests it may originally have adorned a book binding. The small hole pierced at the top, however, indicates it was probably pinned to a wall or piece of furniture and used as a devotional image.
The fluid design of the frame that encloses the scene suggests the flowing forms characteristic of the work of the Utrecht goldsmiths Adam (d. 1627) and Christian van Vianen (d. 1667), and indeed the plaque has been attributed to Christian. Yet the design of the border and treatment of figures and background are closer to those on the lid of a pyx by Hans Coenraadt Breghtel, hence the reattribution of the V&A plaque to the workshop of this goldsmith from The Hague.
Bibliographic references
  • The Golden Age of Dutch Silver. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1953.(Victoria and Albert Museum, small picture book 29).
  • ter Molen, J. R. Van Vianen: een Utrechtse familie van zilversmeden met een internationale faam. 2 vols. Rotterdam: Gemeentedrukkerij, 1984.
  • Frederiks, J. W. Dutch Silver. 4 vols. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1952-1961. IV: Embossed ecclesiastical and secular plate from the Renaissance until the end of the Eighteenth Century.
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.48-1951

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O377013/plaque-breghtel-hans-coenraadt/
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