1707- Inventory

Dear Anne, perhaps you can give a reference or link to the notarial register with this inventory. It starts with noting a number of chests, some of them with documents, a curtain and two old cushions in a small upper room and goes than to the back room, with inter alia a suitcase with duds. The words ending on -ie show the very Dutch preference for diminutives, nowadays we write -je.

The first chest described in detail a number of utensils, either in silver or with a part in silver. This eighteenth-century hand is rather fluent, maybe you should try to decipher some pages yourself... The 10 Delffse booter schootels are butter saucers from Delft, either earthenware of porcelain. The eight silver spoons are decorated with horse feet. It wets the appetite for more!

Dear Anne,

Tried to find the document, but it appears she has made several versions of her will in the final years of her life. For example, the document at https://hdl.handle.net/21.12115/NL-DtAD17368745 even includes another will found among her belongings in her home. This not only referred to home utensils, but also to financial bonds and real estate. Could you indicate which version you found?

Morning Otto and Rene

Many thanks for your replies. Sorry it took me a while to work out how to share the link to the archive; see below. Hopefully this can lead to the correct document.

This document was dated 14 March 1707. There's Barbara and her deceased husband Simon Mesch named; the other names are surnames of painters, a silver/goldsmith-I assume (Weintgen Cornelis) and an author, according to the archive. So even that's intriguing....

The silver was of interest because Simon Mesch's family were silver/gold smiths- Rene you helped me a lot with this family in Janaury. Simon Jaspersz Mesch was an uncle to Simon Mesch- so the silver marked SIM I think was made by him.

The figures beside the gold ring on page 2 I assume was an assessment of it's value to her estate?

The later part of the document seems to be about loans/financial matters. 

https://hdl.handle.net/21.12115/NL-DtAD17366715

very best wishes

Anne

Dear Anne, the first six scans of this act are the actual inventory of goods and objects, scan 7 en 8 deal in particular with the value of an obligation, and also with the house and plateelbakkerij. Barbara had been given the right to live in this house for the remainder of her life. The utensils in the pottery had been valued at f 141,- . The inventory ends with posts concerning remaining debts valued as pro memorie. You are quite right in finding this an important document (toegang 161, Oud otoarieel Archief Delft, inv.no. 2541, fol. 41r-48r).

Dear Otto

Thank you for your reply.

I've done as you suggested and tried to read some of the text, then used 'google translate' with limited success!

I'm trying to get a sense of the size/layout of the house. This is what I have so far;

Rooms-

Scan 1-page 1

Klein bovenkamer-small upper room

Op het agterkamer- in the back room

In de Hist-??

Scan 2 (Page 2/3)

In het Bereden Kamer – in the mounted chamber

In de Agterste kamer-in the rear chamber

In het groote salet- in the big salon

Scan 3 (page 4/5)

In de Blaeuwe Kembre- In the blue chamber?-

In het Kleine comptort- In the little ???

In de Ceste Cottlerie- ???

Scan 4 (p6/7)

In de kelden- In the cellars

In de agter kenthen?- In the back

Op de coven voorkramer-

In de voorse kad- in the front ??

Op het Kleine voorkamer- In the small front room

Scan 5 (p.8)

Op het studeerkamer- In the study

Boven op de kleersoder- On the top of the clothes rack

In de waegensogotte .staende op de agterste kamer,en waer van in den .(lots extra)..in the carriage house

In het Saeltie- ??

Scan 6,7,8- Money owed/due/pottery value..

It would be great if you could help fill in the gaps if you have time :-)  Feel free to correct my Dutch transcripts, that would be helpful so I can learn what letters to check later.

very best wishes

Anne

Well done, Anne, the locations provide enough exercise! On scan 1 you have to distinguish carefully between the h as in het (het) and the k in kist (chest), the downward florish at the right of both letters end differently.

The first chamber on scan 2 is the beneden kaemertie (small room on ground level), you overlooked in de middelst kaemer, with a painted portrait of Barbara Rotteveel and other paintings. Alas this not a 17th-century inventory, otherwise it would have been included in the Montias Database of art inventories.Scan 2 has also a section In de kas (in the cupboard).

On scan 3 the next room is labelled In de blauewe keuke, in the blue kitchen. the u's have signs above them to mark them clearly. The next one is almost in French, in het kleijne comptoirtie, in the small office, note the double diminutives! The last one fooled you, with two b's disguised as c's, in de beste bottelrie, presumably a brewing room. 

You spotted rightly In de kelder on the left margin of scan 4, the next room is named as in de agter keucken, the back kitchen, followed by Op de boven voorkaemer, the front room on the upper level. Here follows again a specification of a cupboard, jn de voorz. kas, voorz. is abbreviated for aforementioned. It ends with again a very small room, you missed only the diminutive ie!

Scan 5 has as its first label op den denrloop, on the landing. The page left ends with op den kleersolder, the clothes attic. On the right things are challenging indeed: the label concerns another cupboard maed of wagenscot, wainscot, located in the back room. It is mentioned here because it key was at first not found! The expression in het saeltie means "in the small hall", yet another typical Dutch expression.

By transcribing these headings you have not only conquered already some elements of Dutch Early Modern scripts, but you have also acquainted yourself witthe spaces of Barbara's house.

Dear Otto

Many thanks for taking the time to explain in detail about the script, and what I need to look for when transcribing/translating 17th century Dutch documents.

Yes it provides a fascinating glimpse of the interior of Barbara's house. I look forward to studying it in more detail.

I have a copy of J M Montias's excellent book, and like you immediately thought how interesting it would have been to include Barbara's art collection. Of course the question we don't know is did she buy the paintings herself or were they from a family collection? 

very best wishes

Anne