Jaarboek Kostuum 2010

Table of Contents

1. Fransje Hovinga-van Eijsden
   A French family of fan makers in the Dutch Republic
   

   Many Huguenots came to Holland at the end of the 17th century. Some of them were fan makers and ivory workers, among whom were husband and wife Nathan and Marie Correch-Beauchaine. They settled with their family in Amsterdam in 1688, the city where most of the fan makers lived and worked. The 17th and 18th centuries were the hey-day of the fan industry. Aristocratic and upper-class women would always carry fans, a considerable number of which was imported from China and the East-Indies.

   Cutting-ivory sticks for the so-called brisé fans was a Dutch speciality. Huge quantities of elephant tusks were therefore imported from Guinea, but also other materials were used for the sticks of folding fans, such as tortoiseshell and mother of pearl. On these sticks a leaf was mounted, decorated with a subject from mythology or the Bible. Historical, pastoral and romantic scenes were also popular. Later in the 18th century folding fans were used in church, usually decorated with scenes from the Old Testament.

   Fans were made for every occasion: birth and/or baptism, betrothals, weddings and mourning. They could be sold by anyone: silversmiths and goldsmiths, watchmakers, furriers, ivory workers, shops specialising in mourning.

   The Correch family not only sold fans, but also parasols. Father Nathan died in 1707. His widow continued the business with her two sons and her daughter Madeleine. Nathan Jr. started his own shop. Marcus Correch, the fourth son, moved with his family to Haarlem in 1732. He officially started his fan business in 1733. He also sold ‘galanterieën’, fancy goods such as gloves, belts, stockings, sewing thread, ribbons, toiletries, ornaments, feathers, clothes, patchwork, caps, bonnets and parasols. His business flourished and he became a deacon of the Eglise Wallonne in Haarlem. However, when he died in 1750 the business folded. His widow left Haarlem and the children of Marcus’ brother Nathan Il had to sell both property and merchandise.

   In 1754 Madeleine Correch was still selling fans, parasols and fancy goods as a pedlar, but in 1758 an inventory was made of all her goods, and she was placed under guardianship. Her nephews in Amsterdam gave up the fan business.

   After the French Period (1795-1813) most of the fan manufacturers and fan shops had gone. Fans were still used, but only when one went to the theatre or to a ball.

    

2. Eva Geene
   In full bloom
   An investigation into the use of realistic floral motifs in Dutch fashion in the 18th century

   The author’s thesis, with the same title as the article, was written in 2006 and is based on her work experience at the Amsterdam Historical Museum (AHM). At that time, the AHM was preparing an exhibition about fashion in the period 1755-1914.

   The collection of the AHM included an interesting robe à la française which was covered in hand-painted floral motifs. The flowers were so realistic that the author wondered about the origin of the motifs as well as about who could have been the artist. The depicted flowers do not all bloom in the same period of the year, so the painter must have had other references than just the actual flowers.

   Another interesting thing about this dress was that the motifs were not applied to the fabric in a repetitive manner. Of course fabric is normally patterned before cutting it for dressmaking. However, the motifs of this particular dress were painted after the fabric was cut, in such a way that the motifs would be complete after the dress had been put together.

   After comparing the motifs and cut to other 18th-century dresses with floral designs, the manufacturing date of the dress could be established at 1755-1760. This indication is based on the distinctive cut of the dress as well as the floral species depicted on it and the way they are spread over the dress. All the motifs consist of exotic flowers that were fashionable during the mid-18th century.

   Seeing the detailed and realistic depiction of the flowers, it is very likely that the painter was an experienced botanical artist. Because the motifs include flowers that were rather rare at the time, the artist probably knew collectors or growers of flowers and plants, or biologists.

   Although a well-preserved dress like this one is very rare, it was not unique at the time it was made: floral and other botanical motifs were very fashionable in the mid-18th century. This dress may be seen as a highlight of naturalism in clothing, whereas the period that followed was characterized by the decline of motifs from nature in art.

    

3. Sylvia van Dam Merrett
   Cut or folded?
   Jackets of the regional dress of Walcheren

   The peninsula of Walcheren is part of the province of Zeeland in the south-west of the Netherlands. About one hundred women on Walcheren still wear regional dress, amongst others a jacket originating from the 18th century. At that time the Zeeland farmers became prosperous and adopted the clothes worn by well-to-do citizens. For the women this was a combination of a jacket - often made of chintz or printed cotton - and several skirts, one worn over the other.

   Both the development of class-consciousness and economic recession in the nineteenth century resulted in an ever-widening gulf between regional and fashionable dress. Even more important: the thin white dresses of Regency fashion were totally unsuited to rural life. Over time the sleeves and skirt of the Walcheren jacket became ever shorter, and from the end of the 19th century onwards jackets have been uniformly black. The basic shape, however, has remained unchanged since the 18th century.

   The extraordinary thing about the Walcheren jackets is that they are achieved entirely by folding, starting from a T-shaped garment with the sleeves cut in one with the bodice. Although this method sometimes takes more fabric than using separate pattern pieces would, the great advantage of the folded jacket is that it is easier to adapt because the folds can be let out or taken in. During the 18th century this method of dressmaking was in use all over the Netherlands.

   Among preserved 18th- and early 19th-century clothing the number of preserved jackets is small. It is often difficult to establish their origin, or whether they are typical for peasant dress. The 17th-century mantua and the Dutch folded jackets are strikingly similar, but we do not find a direct link between that fashionable garment and the jackets. Further research will be necessary to show whether this is a typically Dutch phenomenon for this period. Within the collection of still extant Dutch jackets those from Zeeland stand out clearly by a number of small details.

4. Rein Lotterman
   The story of some pastels from the Hoogeveen area
   

   A few years ago the author happened to buy a pastel of a woman in the regional costume of Hoogeveen, a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. She wore the regional oorijzer (metal cap frame) and lace cap, and he was very much intrigued by her bellen (literally: bells) in the shape of baskets. Bells are hung on the krullen (spirals) of an oorijzer and may be made of gold, silver or copper. Although the author does have basket bells in his collection, pictures showing these actually being worn were hardly known to him.

   Fortunately the author knew the identity of the lady in his pastel, as her name is mentioned on its back: Hendrikje Berghuis, aged nineteen, born 16th June 1792, died 25th December 1871. There was a second picture of a similarly dressed woman in Museum De 5000 Morgen in Hoogeveen, and so a search for the identity of this woman and her husband, portrayed in a twin picture, was started. The author looked into genealogy sites and the way the pastel had found its way to the antiques market. He also compared the women’s apparel in the two pictures, and discovered the link between his pastel and the pastel of the other woman at the Hoogeveen museum.

   Hendrikje Berghuis was a younger sister of Hillechien Berghuis, who married Jan Aalderts Slot in 1812. In this same year the pictures of husband and wife were made, probably by the itinerant German pastellist Theodor Bohres. As a collector of Dutch regional costumes the author was highly interested in the two women's headdresses, especially as these are so rarely shown in pictures. The golden band, which is the shape the oorijzer had in this region at the time, has krullen and is covered by a lace cornet cap. The basket bells, made of gold, are clearly visible in the pastels. They are also called ‘bridal crowns’, but were certainly not only used by brides on their wedding day. The band oorijzers of the region of South and South-East Drenthe are usually made of silver, the krullen of gold or copper.

   It is difficult to date bells as they are rarely marked, but the earliest ones date from the last quarter of the 18th century. Gerrit Lazonder from Schoonhoven (active 1859-1882) was one of the last goldsmiths to make basket bells. The wearing of these bells was continued into the 20th century, though only at special occasions.

    

5. Christa Scholten Meilink Lenferink
   Special clothes
   The Dressing-up Chest. The heritage of Mistress Trijntje Looxma (1844-1907)

   The subject of the exhibition De Verkleedkist (The Dressing-up Chest) held in the Dutch National Carriage Museum at Nienoord Castle (in Leek, in the province of Groningen), is the legacy of Trijntje Looxma (1844-1907), a wealthy woman from Friesland, a province in the North of the Netherlands. The exhibition shows a collection of 18th- and 19th-century costumes and other textiles, illustrating the history of a wealthy family in the northern Netherlands. The narrator is Trijntje, the last descendant of the Looxma family, a wealthy dynasty of silversmiths. They gained influence through trade and governmental positions. Trijntje tells the visitor ‘in person’ about her life and invites people to a dressing-up party in an attic ca. 1900.

   A special object in the exhibition is a hand-painted chintz girl's skirt. Indian chintz, a popular fabric in the 18th century, was copied in Europe. It was used widely, both for regional dress and clothes worn in high society. Even the robe à l'anglaise dating from 1770-1775, which must have been worn by Trijntje's great-grandmother, is made of a fabric inspired by chintz. Trijntje probably altered the dress herself and wore it as a costume at fancy-dress balls. The Fries Museum decided to restore this dress to its original condition.

   Beside this dress Trijntje also kept regional dresses in her chest. Several of her relatives sat for portraits in regional dress. In my opinion this proves that not only country folk, but also members of the upper class used regional dress to express their Frisian identity. They would have worn the Frisian costume mainly for special occasions.

   Apart from clothes, the exhibition displays other textiles, mostly decorated with lace. There is bedlinen between which the royal family may have slept. This, like all the other linen, is marked with the crowned initials P for Panhuys and L for Looxma. This proves that these textiles date from Trijntje's second marriage with Jonkheer (the Honourable) Johan Aemilius Abraham (Bram) van Panhuys (1836-1907).

   Trijntje was killed, together with her husband, her stepson and his wife, in a tragic accident in 1907. After their death their country estate Nienoord stood empty and the household effects were sold. The family pieces were divided between the next of kin. Through her daughter Berendina (1875-1936) the chest with Trijntje Looxma's clothes ended up in The Hague

   In 2007 the owners, the Van Kinschot family, decided to return the collection of heirlooms to Nienoord, now home of the National Carriage Museum. This museum decided to donate the clothes to the Fries Museum in 2009, in exchange for the setting up of the exhibition.

    

6. Vimal Korstjens
   Baukje Jelles
   A household name in the needlework world

   Baukje Jelles was born in 1892 in the village of Anna Paulowna in the north-west of the Netherlands. She graduated in art needlework and took classes at the Haarlem School of Architecture, Decorative Arts and Decorative Crafts. As a textile designer she took part in several exhibitions of decorative arts in the Netherlands and abroad, and her work was published in the Dutch magazine De vrouw en haar huis (Woman and home). Her work was judged to be modern, artistic and of great technical competence. One of the assignments she was responsible for was the execution of three cloths for the new synagogue in Enschede.

   In 1917 she started her career as a teacher of art needlework, a profession she pursued with great skill and enthusiasm until her retirement in 1957. Jelles played a very important part in modernising the training of art needlework teachers, and was a member of the committee which prepared the guidelines for the new technical diploma of art needlework. Under her direction two royal commissions were executed at the 1e Industrieschool voor Vrouwelijke Jeugd (1st Technical School for Young Women) in Amsterdam, where she taught from 1927 onwards. The second one, in 1947, was the constructing, together with a group of students, of a large commemorative flag showing the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam and the motto ‘Heldhaftig, Vastberaden en Barmhartig’ (Valiant, Determined and Compassionate) that was granted to the city by Queen Wilhelmina after World War Il.

   In 1952 Sijthoff Publishers asked her to revise the outdated needlework book Ik kan handwerken (I can do needlework). The new edition was an enormous success right from the moment it was published in 1953. In those years many women did needlework, and there was an obvious demand for a modern approach with new, colourful models and opportunities to use one's own creativity. Many reprints followed, regularly updated with new models.

   In the mid-1970s the interest in needlework waned, and the last edition appeared in 1977. Although every kind of textile technique can now be found on the internet, Jelles' book remains a useful reference work for training colleges and the true devotees of the craft.