On 13 & 14 September the Rijksmuseum will organize an international, two-day symposium in connection with the exhibition KWAB: Dutch Design in the Age of Rembrandt, which is taking place at the Museum this summer. The exhibition will display some of the most important examples of objects decorated with kwab- or auricular ornament, an important stylistic phenomenon in Dutch and European decorative arts of the 17th century.

The symposium will assemble renowned specialists in the field, including Tessa Murdoch (V&A), Matthew Winterbottom (Ashmolean Museum), Jet Pijzel-Dommisse (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag) and Johan ter Molen, who will share new insights and technical and art historical discoveries on objects displayed in or connected to the exhibition.

Participants in the symposium will have the opportunity to join a private view of the exhibition KWAB after opening hours on the evening of Friday 14th September.

We hope you too will be part of this exciting event, which will bring together those working on the decorative arts, 17th century art, the history of the Dutch Golden Age, and the history of design.

Registration is possible via the Rijksmuseum website. Please see https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/symposiums/symposium-kwab-new-discoveries for more information or contact us at kwabsymposiumrijksmuseum.nl

Please find the programme below:

Thursday 13 September 2018

Location: Auditorium Rijksmuseum

12:45-13:15 Registration

13:15-13:20 Welcome by Taco Dibbits – General Director
13:20-13:25 Introduction by Robert van Langh – Head of the Department of Conservation and Restoration

Session 1:
13:25-13:50 Rob Erdmann (Rijksmuseum/University of Amsterdam) – Filming Adam van Vianen’s ewer
13:50-14:15 Tessa Murdoch (Victoria and Albert Museum) – Virtuouso chasing: Cooqus and the Van Vianen Tradition
14:15-14:40 Huub Baija (Rijksmuseum) – Old and new research on
auricular gilding
14:40-15:00 Discussion
15:00-15:30 Coffee break

Session 2:
15:30-15:55 Jan Dorscheid (Rijksmuseum) – Two carved auricular banisters: wooden foundry patterns or unique craftwork
15:55-16:20 Arie Pappot (Rijksmuseum/University of Amsterdam) – Beeldsnijders and Geelgieters, the use of wooden foundry patterns in the Netherlands
16:20-16:45 Paul van Duin (Rijksmuseum) – Dressed in black. Technical aspects of mid-seventeenth-century French ebony cabinets
16:45-16:55 Discussion
16:55-17:00 Closing remarks by Reinier Baarsen
17.00-18.00 Drinks
 

Friday 14 September 2018

Location: Auditorium Rijksmuseum

10:00-10:30 Registration

10:30-10:35 Welcome
10.35-10.45 Introduction by Reinier Baarsen

Session 1:
10:45-11:10 Dirk Jan Biemond (Rijksmuseum) – Patrons of Art: virtuoso goldsmiths and their clientèle in the Dutch Republic
11:10-11:35 Jet Pijzel-Dommisse (Gemeentemuseum, The Hague) – Hans Coenraet Brechtel and auricular ornament in The Hague
11:35-12:00 Matthew Winterbottom (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) – John Cooqus: Goldsmith to the court of Charles II
12:00-12:25 Discussion
12:25-13:40 Lunch break

Session 2:
13:40-14:05 Reinier Baarsen (Rijksmuseum) – Drawings by Johannes Lutma the Elder
14:05-14:30 Esther van der Hoorn (University of Groningen) – Van Vianen silver in the collection Grill
14:30-14:45 Discussion
14:45-15:15 Break

Session 3:
15:15-15:40 Ine Castelijns van Beek (Rijksmuseum) – Dutch church interiors: auricular ornament in wood
15:40-16:05 Johan ter Molen – Auricular ornament in Frisia and Groningen
16:05-16:20 Discussion
16:20-16:30 Closing remarks by Reinier Baarsen

16:30-18:00 Drinks
17:00-18:00 Private viewing of the exhibition