Featured Painted Frisian Hindeloopen peat box

Just a show and tell.
My antique peat box, used to store peat next to a fireplace. It is painted in the tradition of the town of Hindeloopen, Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands.



In the old days, the women of Hindeloopen painted their furniture and other wooden items while the men were out at sea, mostly the Baltic trade.
The designs were inspired by items which came from 'the East': Chinese porcelain and Indian and Javanese fabrics, but also by European decorating fashions, like marbling and other 'faux' painting.




Hindeloopen homes were painted and decorated with tiles from floor to ceiling, and blue and white Chinese porcelain was put on cabinets and ledges. Add to that the colourful Hindeloopen costume made of Indian printed fabrics, and the picture is enough for Stendhal syndrome.

It is said that Dutch painted furniture like the Hindeloopen style inspired 17th century Norwegian migrant workers in the rich Republic of the Netherlands. When they went home they introduced it in Norway, and Norwegian rosemaling was born.

I have a few nice Hindeloopen items, mostly from the 1970s. I have been looking for antique Hindeloopen for years, but quality varies enormously and prices for good pieces can go through the roof.
But I recently came across this antique peat box, good quality and a bargain, so here it is.



It is signed on the bottom, and I just sent the museum in Hindeloopen an email to ask who the painter was. I hope they know, they are a small museum and also rely on information from the public.



Btw, I am still looking for an antique Hindeloopen piece with a parrot painted in the centre. They are out there, but prices are also out there.

Enjoy!

 

This is a nice antique Hindeloopen piece with a 'parrot' (not mine), just to show what they look like in Hindeloopen painting. In the listing it says to enquire after the price. Which means out of my league.

 

Very nice and thanks for sharing your items with us.

 

Fascinating, just fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about this decorative tradition with us.

Debora

 

A 19th century watercolour of a Hindelooper room by folk painter Hendrik Lap:

 

That's a lovely peat box!! Wishing you luck in finding one with the parrot reasonably priced, on it as well!!!

 

I love this painting! It reminds me of when wallpaper was very popular in the 80s. My entire house, every wall, was papered just like their painted items and walls. After wallpaper went out of style, of course we had to remove it all. DH said No more wallpaper. But this work is different. I didn't paint the wallpaper, just glued it on every wall, lol. Is this still a tradition and do houses like this still exist? The men must have been gone an awfully long time to accomplish all that painting. Plus, I imagine there was some competition (keeping up with the Jones's).

 

Another thing I didnt know I needed ! Lovely .

 

All very nice. But for me the painting is tops. Thanks for sharing AJ. Hope you get a positive reply and ID from the museum.

I hear you. The list keeps growing!

 

Hindelooper painting is still a tradition, and there are some excellent painters. But entire houses or even rooms like this are only found in museums nowadays.
Many people like the smaller items though, for instance I have a tea caddy, a tray, a candlestick and a stool in Hindelooper style, all hand painted and some signed. My brother and SIL have a small Hindeloopen cabinet.

But my favourite Dutch folk painting style is from Assendelft, not far from Amsterdam. It is similar to Hindeloopen style, but the base colour is Prussian blue to blueish grey and the flowers are more realistic.
Assendelft ware is pretty rare though.
I can't find a photo of my most beautiful Assendelft pieces, but these are also mine, a storage box (photo of lid), and a wooden Easter egg:

 

Aqui, your wish just came true, thank you!
I found a similar wall hanging, not as beautiful or old as the one I posted, but it is antique, and only 12.50 euros! A miracle. I bought it immediately, so no one else could snatch it.

 

I just read some more about Hindelooper painting.
Apparently the tradition had all but died out in the 19th century. But in 1894 a young man named Arend Roosje revived it after studying old pieces. His work sold, and soon other young people came knocking on his door asking to be his apprentice.
The Roosje workshop still exists, but it is owned by a different family now.

I love the name Arend Roosje. Arend is a common men's name in the north of the country, it means eagle. A Frisian version is Arendo, but Arend is also used in Friesland. Roosje means little rose.
So his name was Eagle Little Rose.

 

I love the faux painting on the inside of your peat box.I wonder if part of the circular motif was painted or accented with a feather ? Yep,bird feathers (duck,goose,turkey) used as brushes in the old days,in addition of course to reg animal fur bristles.
I guess the closest style we have in the U.S. are the 17th-19th East Coast Pennsylvania Dutch (maybe ?).

 

Thank so much for sharing your box and the very interesting information AnyJewelry! The painting the box is stunning and I really like the style. It is painted with happy colors. But I have to say I love the blue ones.

Edited to add: My mother's family is from Pennsylvania and my grandfather was Pennsylvania Dutch (not Amish) and your box reminds me of the sort of decorations on family items I saw as a child.

 

Pennsylvania "Dutch" were actually German.

 

@Bakersgma, Yes I know. But but his family referred to themselves as Pennsylvania Dutch and conversed in PA Dutch. As kids we were fascinated. When planning his funeral, my grandfather found a pastor who would read the Lord's Prayer in "Dutch" at the service. Sorry Any, I got off track.

 

Darned Hindeloopers got everywhere! (LOL) The Poles and Russians and Ukranians did kinda-sorta similar things, either because the idea came up anywhere people had lots of bare wood and time in their hands, or they traded with the Dutch.

 

The style of the letters looks end of 18th/early 19th century to me.

 

Curious - was the peat used as tinder to start a fire or as the actual fuel for the fire?

 

Thank you for your comments everyone, and thank you for looking.

As Bakers said, the Pennsylvania Dutch were actually Pennsylvania Deutsch, not Nederlands. They came from Germany, including Alsace, and from Switzerland. Being of Central European origin, they brought the tradition of Central European "Bauernmalerei" with them.

Dutch folk painting is more constrained than Central European Bauernmalerei. And where Bauernmalerei was a more rural thing, Bauer means farmer, Dutch folk painting was done mostly in towns, expecially the rich commercial centres, including Amsterdam. It is called folk painting, but most of it was done by painters hired by furniture manufacturers. Painting covered the lesser, cheaper woods like pine.

Floral painting is traditionally European, but there are stylistic differences, as well as differences in the social backgrounds of the painters.

Interestingly, there was a link between the Pennsylvania Dutch and Friesland, but that was a spiritual one, not a cultural one: They followed the teachings of a Dutch Frisian preacher called Menno Simonsz. Hence the term Mennonites for one important group. Menno is a Frisian first name.

That would be a form of German, probably having roots in Alsace or Switzerland. I understand the importance, it had to be true to his faith.

It isn't Antiquers if a thread doesn't go off track.