Unraveling a 17th-Century North Netherlandish Panel Maker

Abstract

The marking and branding of oak panel painting supports is a well-known practice in art-production centers of the Southern Netherlands, such as Antwerp in the 16th and 17th centuries. Conversely, information about the activities and regulations of 17th-century panel makers in the Northern Netherlands is scant and has hitherto never been thoroughly researched. Here, we present our research on a panel maker who sold his products to painters within the Dutch Republic. He stamped his house mark, consisting of two letters ‘M’ above each other and crowned by the cipher ‘4’, into the back of his panels. This mark has been found on panels from several painters active between 1632 and 1648. To narrow down the location of the unknown panel maker’s workshop, the source of the wood and the eventual interrelationships between the boards he used for the panels were investigated. In addition, the painters who painted on his supports were studied. This paper presents a novel dendrochronological examination of eight of his twenty-three known panels, combined with art historical research into the works of his customers. We propose that Rotterdam could have been the location of the panel maker’s workshop, based on the Baltic provenance of the wood of the panels, the painters who used them, and the supply of timber to the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century. Our understanding of the panel maker’s practices in the 17th century is increased by this interdisciplinary attempt to unravel an unknown Dutch panel maker and his practice. To comprehend the complexity of the booming art market of the 17th-century Netherlands, further research into Dutch frame- and panel-makers and their regulations and practices is urgently needed.

Proceedings of the symposium Woodworking Tools and Techniques –Past, Present and Future, Stockholm 16-19 September 2022

“…Only after 1860 the largest furniture factories started to mechanize in combination with steam engines. After 1880 the steam engine was increasingly replaced by smaller and cheaper gas, diesel, and petroleum engines, 18 which from 1900 were also used in smaller workshops. 19 Shortly afterwards, around 1900, the final innovation announced itself: the electric motor.…”

“…16 Kongō Gumi 17 a group of carpenters specializing in shrines and temples, still undertake construction, reconstruction, and repair work for shrines and temples today, using Japanese hand tools, and are working on training young technicians. In addition, the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum 18 systematically collects carpentry tools and exhibits so that you can see and touch. However, an apprenticeship-like method is continued in many educational and instructional settings.…”

“…17 With a history of over 1,400 years since its founding, it is the oldest company in the world where processing with hand tools is still done at the actual site. 18 This is the only museum in Japan that exhibits carpentry tools established in 1984. Special exhibitions, lectures, seminars, and hands-on classes are held.…”

“…This template was then used to transfer the shape of the profile to the new plane body. 18 The following steps of making the moulding plane are perhaps best described in the historic account given by J.W. Armour in Work, The Illustrated Journal for Mechanics, London, 1898 (fig.…”

“…17 Former Museum's curator Arne Losman mentions in the introduction to Knutsson/Kylsberg 1985, that the luxury tools of the initiator of the building count Wrangel, were in later years used by the castle's armourers and other technicians. 18 The replica planes were copied from old prototypes that were generally in good condition, but not 'as new' . Some had a more or less worn sole, some plane bodies had received altered depth stops or had deformed slightly due to shrinkage.…”