DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68274#0278
Dutch and Flemish Furniture
lacquers; and in the summer time the pot that was
suspended from a crane in the chimney was taken away
and replaced by large porcelain vases and beakers. A
handsome chimney cloth was usually hung just below
the shelf.
Being exceedingly economical, the Dutch could not
easily squander money for pleasures or recreations, but
for the " home " they would spend lavishly. A hand-
some piece of furniture or silver, beautiful porcelain,
rare tulips, rich curtains and rugs, valuable paintings,
fine glass, and curios from the Far East would in-
duce the opulent Dutchman to part with large sums ;
and his wife spent the greater part of her life in orna-
menting and beautifying the home, taking care of the
treasures it contained, and, above all, in keeping the
house and its contents clean and in order. A rich mer-
chant, Asselijn, said :—
Ziet wat een fraei kasteel ! wat heit het me gecost!
Myn gelt is nyet verbrast aan keur van vremde cost.
Voor paerden en gery en zeldzaeme sieraeden
En gaf ik nyet een myt ; geen bloem-fluweelgewaden
Versieren 't stinckend lyf, de logge madenzah.
Myn huys is myn sieraet, myn huys myn beste pack.
Daer voor is myn tresoor, daer voor myn koffer open,
En wat myn huys behoeft, dat haest ich my te hoopen.
(See what a beautiful castle! What a sum it costs!
My money is not spent in choice of foreign viands.
For horses and equipages and rare ornaments
I did not spend a mite; no flowery velvet dresses
Adorn the wasting body, the clumsy stomach:
My home is my ornament, my house my best costume,
Therefore my treasury and my coffer are open,
And what my house needs I hasten to buy.)
And Godewijck puts these words into the mouth of a
daughter of an alderman :—
182
lacquers; and in the summer time the pot that was
suspended from a crane in the chimney was taken away
and replaced by large porcelain vases and beakers. A
handsome chimney cloth was usually hung just below
the shelf.
Being exceedingly economical, the Dutch could not
easily squander money for pleasures or recreations, but
for the " home " they would spend lavishly. A hand-
some piece of furniture or silver, beautiful porcelain,
rare tulips, rich curtains and rugs, valuable paintings,
fine glass, and curios from the Far East would in-
duce the opulent Dutchman to part with large sums ;
and his wife spent the greater part of her life in orna-
menting and beautifying the home, taking care of the
treasures it contained, and, above all, in keeping the
house and its contents clean and in order. A rich mer-
chant, Asselijn, said :—
Ziet wat een fraei kasteel ! wat heit het me gecost!
Myn gelt is nyet verbrast aan keur van vremde cost.
Voor paerden en gery en zeldzaeme sieraeden
En gaf ik nyet een myt ; geen bloem-fluweelgewaden
Versieren 't stinckend lyf, de logge madenzah.
Myn huys is myn sieraet, myn huys myn beste pack.
Daer voor is myn tresoor, daer voor myn koffer open,
En wat myn huys behoeft, dat haest ich my te hoopen.
(See what a beautiful castle! What a sum it costs!
My money is not spent in choice of foreign viands.
For horses and equipages and rare ornaments
I did not spend a mite; no flowery velvet dresses
Adorn the wasting body, the clumsy stomach:
My home is my ornament, my house my best costume,
Therefore my treasury and my coffer are open,
And what my house needs I hasten to buy.)
And Godewijck puts these words into the mouth of a
daughter of an alderman :—
182