Dutch silver coffee pot

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Dutch silver coffee pot

Dirk van de Goorberg

Delft, 1770

841grams; 25,5 cm high

The baluster-shaped coffee pot is raised on three vine leaf supports, which are incorporated in the applied twig and vine leaf border below. The body, fluted into six panels with lip-shaped spout, displays an engraved double border at the neck. The moulded hinged lid is surmounted by flower spray finial. The scroll ebony handle displays a silver scroll below. Fully marked at the reverse and displaying assay stripes.

Dirk van de Goorberg (Dordrecht, circa 1723 – Delft, 1816) was the most important silversmith in Delft during the second half of the eighteenth century. He became a member of the silversmiths’ guild in Delft in 1747.  He held the position of assay master and dean of the guild for a long time. He was the leading silversmith in a family of silversmiths. Dirk had five children from his marriage with Johanna Oversloot, whom he married in 1748. His son Adam van de Goorberg (1752-1812) also became a master silversmith and was admitted to the guild in 1776. Like his father Adam became assay master (in 1779/83/87) and dean (in 1782/1786) of the Delft guild. Dirk’s other son, Willem van de Goorberg, became a master silversmith and retailer in Leiden in 1779. Between 1784 and 1796 Willem became assay master and dean of the silversmiths’ guild in Leiden.

Dirk van de Goorberg was a very skilled silversmith, whose silverwork could compete with the silverwork, made by Hague silversmiths. He adopted the typical Hague rocaille style, sometimes adding a personal touch. His extensive oeuvre comprises a long period from 1747 till 1792. Key words for his oeuvre are quality and diversity. In Delfts Zilver the author has recorded a survey of still existing silverworks by this master.

This 1770 coffee pot was recorded in an article by Pieter Biesboer ‘Addenda Delfts Zilver’, in De Stavelij, volume 2019-2020, together with a similar teapot and milk jug, both dated 1778. A similar teakettle on stand (bouilloire) from 1778 is in the collection of Museum Prinsenhof in Delft.

In 1770, the year in which this coffee pot was made, Dirk van de Goorberg also made a chocolate pot with the coats-of-arms of Kerssenmakers and Raessens, which is in a private collection. The design of this chocolate pot resembles the design of the 1770 coffeepot.

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Associate literature:

-Dr. Pieter Biesboer, Delfts zilver, 1536-1807, Zwolle, 2020, p. 413 -417 (biografie en werken)

-De Stavelij, jaarboek 2019/20 van de Nederlandse zilverclub, Lochem, 2020, pp. 95-97