A Dutch silver sweetmeat basket
Maker’s mark: Jumping Stag
Rotterdam, 1738
179 grams; 13,4 cm wide; 6 cm high
This small basket is shaped as a monteith bowl and has a gilt interior.
Little is known about the master, whose maker’s mark is ‘a jumping stag’. We do know, though, that he worked from 1731-1753 in Rotterdam. Four objects of his hand are mentioned in the exhibition catalogue Zilverschatten, drie eeuwen Rotterdams zilver. Two sweet meat baskets shaped as wine coolers, dated 1737 and 1742 respectively, a teapot made in 1735 and a dripping pan from 1753. A candlestick by this master, dated 1731, was added to a set of seven made by Hendrik Beest and was in the collection of Jacob J. Roosjen in 2013. There is also a wine taster of this master, made in 1738 in this collection.
Literature and associate literature:
-I.N. Schadee, Zilverschatten, drie eeuwen Rotterdams zilver, Historisch Museum Rotterdam, 1991.
-Dr. I. Heller, Europäische Goldschmiedearbeiten 1500-1860, Couven-Museum, Aachen, 2003, nr. 182, p. 238.