- Origin:
- Amsterdam
- Date:
- 17th century
- Dimensions:
- 7 cm x 8.5 cm x 8 cm.
- Master:
- Sigismund Zschammer, active between 1661 tot 1693.
- Marked:
- Indistinctly marked at the back of the brush which is often the case.
Price on request
Considering the popularity of women’s domestic preoccupations, for instance, getting ready at her dressing table, it is no surprise that these small luxury objects became a popular present for a lady. On the plain oval surface of the silver brush back an engraving has been applied that reads “Maria Boet”.
The oval shape and dimensions of these brushes were determined mainly by their function; they were used as a clothes brush. Delftware potters also produced elongated brushes, often with very attractive decorations, with the unglazed underside having pierced holes for the bristles. The image of a woman before her mirror can be read as a symbol of pride and lust, or simply a pleasurable and intimate feminine ritual. The subject is well known in Dutch genre painting of the second half of the 17th century.
The indistinct maker’s mark is from the Amsterdam silversmith Sigismund Zschammer, born in Joachimstadt in Bohemia, and active in Amsterdam from 1661 onwards. There is at least one other silver brush known to have been made him.