Bottle
1674 (dated)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This type of bottle is a decanter for wine. The engraved biblical quotation refers to the importance of wine at table.
The calligraphic inscription is the work of Willem Jacobsz. Van Heemskerk (1613-92), a successful cloth merchant from Leyden, who spent much of his spare time writing poetry and engraving glass. He specialised in this type of elegant calligraphy, filling the whole surface of the glass with letters and scrolls, each built-up from many parallel scratches. Van Heemskerk lived to be 79 and during his long life he engraved hundreds of glasses, mostly goblets and bottles like this one.
The calligraphic inscription is the work of Willem Jacobsz. Van Heemskerk (1613-92), a successful cloth merchant from Leyden, who spent much of his spare time writing poetry and engraving glass. He specialised in this type of elegant calligraphy, filling the whole surface of the glass with letters and scrolls, each built-up from many parallel scratches. Van Heemskerk lived to be 79 and during his long life he engraved hundreds of glasses, mostly goblets and bottles like this one.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Diamond-engraved glass |
| Brief description | Decanter bottle of blueish-green glass, Northern Netherlands (Leiden), engraved by Willem van Heemskerk, 1674. |
| Physical description | Decanter bottle of clear, blueish-green glass. Bulbous body with long neck. A glass thread has been wound around the neck somewhat below the rim. Diamond-point engraved on the body is a calligraphic description, signed and dated 1674. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Wat 's 't Leven by 'n dis, alwaer geen wyn en is'/ 'Syrach cap: 31 Vers. 31'/ 'Willem van Heemskerk in Leyden. 1674. AEs 61' (The calligraphic inscription is a couplet in praise of wine paraphrased from the book of Ecclesiasticus, also known as the Wisdom of Sirach (one of the books of the Apocrypha). Willem van Heemskerk has added his name and the town he lives in (Leyden), the year (1674) and his age (61).)
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| Credit line | Wilfred Buckley Collection |
| Object history | Sold at auction Muller, Amsterdam, 28/11/1913 (lot 1584) |
| Historical context | This type of bottle is a decanter for wine for use at the table. It would have been refilled from larger vessels or straight from the barrel. It would have had a stopper made of cork with a silver cap which was probably linked to the bottle with a chain attached to a silver collar just below the glass thread on the neck. |
| Summary | This type of bottle is a decanter for wine. The engraved biblical quotation refers to the importance of wine at table. The calligraphic inscription is the work of Willem Jacobsz. Van Heemskerk (1613-92), a successful cloth merchant from Leyden, who spent much of his spare time writing poetry and engraving glass. He specialised in this type of elegant calligraphy, filling the whole surface of the glass with letters and scrolls, each built-up from many parallel scratches. Van Heemskerk lived to be 79 and during his long life he engraved hundreds of glasses, mostly goblets and bottles like this one. |
| Bibliographic reference | Smit (1989; cat W6) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.426-1936 |
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| Record created | December 13, 1997 |
| Record URL |
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