Dendrochronological Dating of Northern Netherlandish Furniture from the Late-17th and Early-18th Centuries

Abstract

Abstract Over the last 30 years, more than 70 pieces of furniture from the Rijksmuseum collection (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) have been dated using dendrochronology. Furniture from the northern Netherlands was seldom dated by the maker and never signed, and only a few documents indicating who and when it was made have survived. Here, we present an overview of the research carried out on 17th-century furniture objects from the Rijksmuseum, with a special focus on the results pertaining to marquetry cabinets produced around the 1700s. We outline the general approach followed to conduct dendrochronological research on cabinets — from the selection of elements to the interpretation of the results. On average, a cabinet consists of fifty to 100 wooden elements. In many of these elements, the end grain is not accessible, and partial dismantling may be required to access the surface and the tree-ring pattern; hence, conscious choices must be made. Seven pieces of furniture are discussed in this paper, including the first cabinet dated by dendrochronology at the Rijksmuseum (the dolls’ house commissioned by Petronella Oortman), a cabinet with inlaid Japanese lacquer panels, and furniture by Jan van Mekeren with intricate marquetry depicting large bouquets of flowers. The results of the dendrochronological research show that the oak used in these cabinets was predominantly sourced in Germany and, to a lesser extent, eastern France. The dates and provenance of the wood were cross-checked with existing art historical dates, which were then refined. The results highlight the added value of dendrochronological analyses of furniture and the contribution of this scientific method to understanding developments in cabinetmaking by chronologically arranging objects made by the same manufacturer. They also point to the need to continue developing and improving regional and local reference tree-ring chronologies to produce more accurate inferences regarding wood provenance.