DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68274#0290
Dutch and Flemish Furniture
a merchant's house was the " voorhuis," or front room,
where visitors were formally received. This was more
or less handsomely furnished in accordance with the
means of the owner. It was usually a sort of hall, some-
times of considerable dimensions.
A " voorhuis," as it appears in an inventory of 1686,
contains a very handsome marble table with a carved
wooden frame, a table covered with a handsome cloth,
and a very fine tall clock. The seats consisted of seven
Russia leather chairs and one matted chair furnished
with a cushion. The room was lighted with three glass
windows with leaden frames, handsomely curtained,
and eleven pictures decorated the walls. The value of
this furniture was £125 in present money.
In many houses the second floor was only used for
" show rooms," and the family slept in either the lower
or the top floor. Bernagie writes : " If you go through
the town, you will find many houses where the husband
is afraid so much as even to smell at his second floor
rooms. They always remain downstairs. Have they
ever so many courtly rooms, they will eat, for their
wives' sake, in the small back kitchen."
This was the case in most of the burghers' houses.
These show-rooms were used only on some special
occasion ; otherwise they were never entered except
for cleaning. This took place weekly and oftener, with
special cleaning in the spring and autumn. Rooms in
constant use were daily stripped and cleaned, and the
housewife barely allowed herself time to eat. Some
enthusiastic housekeepers—although wealthy—would not
allow the servants to clean their best rooms, but wielded
194
a merchant's house was the " voorhuis," or front room,
where visitors were formally received. This was more
or less handsomely furnished in accordance with the
means of the owner. It was usually a sort of hall, some-
times of considerable dimensions.
A " voorhuis," as it appears in an inventory of 1686,
contains a very handsome marble table with a carved
wooden frame, a table covered with a handsome cloth,
and a very fine tall clock. The seats consisted of seven
Russia leather chairs and one matted chair furnished
with a cushion. The room was lighted with three glass
windows with leaden frames, handsomely curtained,
and eleven pictures decorated the walls. The value of
this furniture was £125 in present money.
In many houses the second floor was only used for
" show rooms," and the family slept in either the lower
or the top floor. Bernagie writes : " If you go through
the town, you will find many houses where the husband
is afraid so much as even to smell at his second floor
rooms. They always remain downstairs. Have they
ever so many courtly rooms, they will eat, for their
wives' sake, in the small back kitchen."
This was the case in most of the burghers' houses.
These show-rooms were used only on some special
occasion ; otherwise they were never entered except
for cleaning. This took place weekly and oftener, with
special cleaning in the spring and autumn. Rooms in
constant use were daily stripped and cleaned, and the
housewife barely allowed herself time to eat. Some
enthusiastic housekeepers—although wealthy—would not
allow the servants to clean their best rooms, but wielded
194