An Impressive Wedding Gift

This impressive toilet set was most probably commissioned by Allard van Burum, the father of the bride. His daughter Cecilia Isabella married Johan Vegelin van Claerbergen in 1722. Both spouses belonged to distinguished and old Frisian noble families.

Cecilia was born in 1703, the eldest of four daughters of Allard van Burum (1678-1729) and Catharina Johanna van Eysinga (1682-1716). Her father was Grietman of Doniawerstel, an important position that included the rural mayor’s office as well as a judicial function, for which one had to be elected. Her mother’s family, the Van Eysingas, were amongst the most famous noble families in Friesland.

Johan Vegelin van Claerbergen was born in Oldeborn in 1690, the third and youngest son of Grietman Hessel van Vegelin van Claerbergen and Anna Maria van Viersen. In 1708, at the age of 18, he and his elder brother Assuerus went to the Southern Netherlands, where he was appointed steward of the religious goods of Kemperland of the Meijerij of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In 1720 he was appointed counsellor at the court of Friesland in Leeuwarden. After marrying Cecilia, he succeeded his father-in-law as Grietman of Doniawerstel. In 1731 Johan became deputy delegate to the States General on behalf of Friesland.

Osinga State

After their marriage, Cecilia and Johan lived on the Osinga estate in Langweer, in the house that Cecilia’s mother had bought and which her father had extensively renovated. Cecilia and Johan had a daughter, Catharina Johanna Vegelin van Claerbergen, in 1726. Cecilia died in 1731, aged 28, and Johan Vegelin died in 1773, aged 82. This toilet set has always remained in the family, until now.

Trousseau

The toilet-service was often part of the trousseau, the bride’s dowry. A habitual engagement present, it was a confirmation of the suitor’s honourable intentions or in this case, a present from the father to his daughter. The size of the toilet service depended on the father’s wealth. There was no limit to the number of parts. Services of more than 25 pieces are recorded in royal circles. However, it was unusual to find multi-piece ensembles elsewhere. Most ladies only owned the main pieces, which they added to over the course of their lives. A few gentlemen also owned a stripped-down toilet set. This elaborate toilet set, made to order, was a great luxury.

Different Parts

Toilet boxes came in different sizes. The largest, usually a single box with a rectangular shape, is called a cap or comb box, and was used to keep hair bonnets or combs for hair. The smaller boxes were for the various face and hair powders. The even smaller boxes were for pomades and rouge. The smallest boxes were for patches or puffs; small circles cut out of fabric which were applied to the face or décolleté to conceal skin irregularities and to enhance the whiteness of the skin. A fair skin was considered a beauty ideal which, like natural taches de beauté, was very fashionable.

The brushes were used to clean clothes after powdering and to clean combs. The bristles of these brushes were much longer than we are used to today and were made from pigs’ hair. The pin cushion was used for pins to attach collars or jewellery to clothes and ribbons to hairstyles.

The later rectangular mirror has the same profiled frame as the boxes, with a broken S-shaped design at the top. This mirror was made by the Hague silversmith Jacques Tuillier four years after the other items in the toilet set. The back is veneered in burr walnut and has a fold-out support that allows the mirror to stand upright on the dressing table. The fittings on the back are also silver.

Thomas de Ringh

The Frisian silversmith Thomas de Ringh was born in 1695, the eldest son of the wine merchant Assuarus Femmes de Ringh and Willemke Dircks. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and was baptised in Leeuwarden. Nothing is known of his apprenticeship, but literature mentions that he was admitted to the guild as a master silversmith in 1722. However, the three largest boxes of this toilet set show that he was already working as a master silversmith in 1721. In 1726 he signed his guild charter as an ‘elder’. From 1731 he studied theology in Franeker and after five years he became pastor in Suawoude. In 1736, at the age of 41, he married Sieukjes Minnes Hayema. She died six months later. De Ringh himself died in 1741.

Jacques Tuillier

Although several pieces are known by Jacques Tuillier, little is known about the silversmith himself. He was married to Jeanne Sauvage and is mentioned in the Oath Book on 2 July 1701. He was appointed dean in 1725-31. In 1706 he lived on the Veerkade in The Hague.

Marks

Marked on the underside with the Leeuwarden city assay mark, the Provincial mark of Friesland, the date letter F for 1721 (on the three largest boxes) and G for 1722 (on the four smaller boxes and the pin cushion), and the maker’s mark a ring for Thomas de Ringh. The mirror bears the city assay mark of The Hague, the Dutch lion, the date letter D for 1726 and the maker’s mark IT above a cube for Jaqcues Tuillier.