The oval basket has pierced and engraved sides creating the effect of interwoven wicker. Along the lower and upper rim are cast rocaille and foliate scroll borders with two incorporated handles decorated with twigs and leaves. The rocaille ornaments on the lower rim also act as the feet. The centre of each side features a large rocaille ornament containing the engraved crests of the Van Leyden and De Thoms families.

Isacq Samuel Busard made a beautiful rococo silver frame for holding the two large and two smaller cut-crystal bottles that go inside the basket. In the centre there is a frame that holds a silver spice caster which was made in The Hague in the same year by Busard’s colleague, Pieter Kersbergen. The silver frame is secured to the basket with a silver screw and can be easily removed. As a result, the basket has a dual function and is often referred to as à double usage; it can be used as either a cruet or a breadbasket.

Vlessenmandje

‘Ordinary’ silver cruets appear frequently in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch inventories. They are listed individually along with the mustard pot and the spice and sugar casters, or as a tray holding oil and vinegar jugs, a sugar bowl and a pepper caster. In Holland alone, a more luxurious version appeared after the middle of the eighteenth century: an oil and vinegar set in a silver basket. A 1766 inventory lists a vlessenmandje met zijn peperbusje (basket of bottles with its pepper caster). Oil and vinegar cruets in a basket sometimes have two flasks for oil and vinegar and on occasion, as in this example, four, for other condiments.

Cornelis Pieter Baron Van Leyden

The engraved coat of arms on the basket is that of Cornelis Pieter van Leyden (pictured below), a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. Born on 14 July 1738 in Leiden, South Holland, he was sea captain, alderman of Haarlem and member of the Vroedschap (the city council). On 14 October 1764, he married Hermina Jacoba, Gravin de Thoms in Leiden. The couple had a son, Jonkheer Frédéric Auguste van Leyden van Westenbarendrecht and two daughters, Sophia Dina van Leyden, a countess of the Holy Roman Empire and Johanna Maria van Leyden, a baroness of the Holy Roman Empire. Cornelis died in Warmond on 1 May 1790, aged 51. His wife Hermina passed away in 1814.

The Van Leydens were a ruling family whose successive generations held important positions in the public administration of the city of Leiden and beyond. Several Van Leydens were mayors of the city of Leiden and served as viscounts.
They themselves claimed descent from a medieval noble family of the same name. However, the claim to high status did not arise until the 16th century, when Adriaen Dircsz van Leyden received the title of Baron of the Holy Roman Empire from the German Emperor Charles V in 1548. In 1732, Emperor Charles VI even raised the title of one of his descendants to Count. Since then the Van Leydens have styled themselves barons of the Holy Roman Empire. In Holland no rights could be derived from such a foreign title.

Zeeland

In addition to Leiden, through inheritance and marriage, the family acquired large interests in the South Holland islands, where they had a large estate on Voorne and the seigneuries of Vlaardingen and Vlaardinger-Ambacht. Over the years, these possessions were expanded through acquisitions. When the States of Holland decided to sell one hundred Ambachtsheerlijkheden (lordships of the manor) from their property, the Van Leydens acquired a large number of them, mainly on Voorne. Cornelis’ father, Diederik Pietrsz van Leyden, owned more Dutch seigneuries than any other person apart from the Prince of Orange and his descendants. Thanks to a further 17 seigneuries that Diederik van Leydenhadacquiredduringhislifetime,hisfivesonseach inherited a considerable number of them. Cornelis Pieter inherited Onwaard and Aarddijkswal, Oud Craayerspolder, Nieuw Craayerspolder and Craeyenesse. After the death of his brother Jan, he also became Lord of West Baren- drecht and Jacob Dammaspolder and Carnisse. In 1774 he purchased the high seigneury of Warmond from the Dutch noble Van Wassenaer family. This made him Lord of Warmond, and the Van Leyden estate continued to grow after Diederik’s death. Although Diederik’s sons reached a good age, the male line of the Van Leyden family ceased to exist in 1821.

Largest House in Leiden

The Van Leydens were aware of their prominent position, and from 1658 to 1791 they lived at 48 Rapenburg in Huis van Leyden, a city palace and the largest house in Leiden. Here they displayed their family portraits and art collections to their guests. It is considered the ancestral home of the family.

Cornelis Pieter and his wife Hermina Jacoba, Gravin de Thoms, however, lived in Huis te Warmond, in a beautiful landscaped park north of Warmond, not far from Leiden and the Kaag. The first mention of the house dates back to 1362. After buying the castle and the manor in 1774, the couple had it converted into a neo-classical summer residence.

Art Collection

The Van Leydens were not only seigneurs and titleholders, but also art collectors. Over the course of fifty years, Cornelis Pieter’s brother, Pieter Cornelis, used his wealth and European network to amass a collection of 50,000 prints. It was acquired by Louis Napoleon for the Royal Library in 1807 and now forms a large part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum’s Print Room in Amsterdam. In addition to this extensive collection of prints, the family also collected paintings and silver.

Isaacs Samuel Busard

Born around 1706, the Hague silversmith Isacq Samuel Busard became a master in 1731 and joined the Hague silversmiths’ guild in that year. He lived in the Fluwelen Burgwal, the Kalvermarkt and the Korte Poten, respectively and married Anna-Antoinette Trouillé on 22 June 1749. Busard was one of the best silversmiths in The Hague. As a silversmith and kashouder (shopkeeper) he not only sold his own work but pieces made by fellow silversmiths as well – he was known for the high quality and solidity of his pieces. He had a good sense of ornamentation and proportions and his executions are unsurpassed. He passed away on 11 February 1784 at the age of 78.

Marks

Marked at the bottom with the Hague city assay mark, the Dutch lion, the date letter T for 1765 and the maker’s mark IB for Isacq Samuel Busard.
The caster bears the city assay mark of The Hague, the Dutch lion, the date letter T for 1765 and the makers’ mark PK of Pieter Kersbergen.