Exhibition Amsterdam Museum: ‘The Amsterdam of Piet van Eeghen’
29/03/2024 - 30/06/2024
The exhibition ‘Het Amsterdam van Piet van Eeghen’ at the Amsterdam Museum features a very special piece from the Salomon Stodel collection. The concerning object is a silver tobacco jar, made by the Amsterdam based silversmith Jan Pont in 1732. The tobacco jar is beautifully decorated with Louis XIV style ornaments against a smooth background. Even though the decoration is lavishly applied, the symmetry and simple base of the jar provide the object with a simple yet powerful look.
It should not come as a surprise that these type of objects were not only for everyday use, but served as power symbols as well. This becomes evident when we look at the exhibition in the Amsterdam Museum. The tobacco jar is exhibited next to a portrait of Christiaan van Eeghen (1700-1747). On the desk behind Van Eeghen we can spot a similar tobacco jar as the one in our collection. The fact that the jar was chosen to be displayed on the portrait shows how special this object truly was, and ofcourse still is.
The exhibition focusses on Christiaan Pieter van Eeghen (1816-1889). A famous figure from the Van Eeghen family. The family from Amsterdam were leaders in the trading industry and attained an abundance of generational power and wealth. The Amsterdam Museum does not only show their impressive art collection, but also some of the initiatives and influences the family, and in particular Piet van Eeghen, had on the city of Amsterdam.