The most extraordinary style of ornamentation employed by the masters of Decorative Art during the seventeenth century is that known as the _genre auriculaire_. In this, every part of the human ear is used as a decorative motive. The outer rim and lobe had been used long before it was carried to excess. A very early example is shown in the bed dated 1580 on Plate XI where auricular curves are plainly recognizable in the carving. In the “_Buire_” (Plate XLVI) by Mosyn, however, this style is seen in its most exaggerated form. This design is by M. Mosyn, an engraver, born at Amsterdam about 1630. His chandeliers are equally extravagant. Peter Nolpe, born at the Hague (1601–70), was another designer of this school, as was also John Lutma of Amsterdam (1609–89). The latter represents the very decadence of art, with his hideous cartouches, compartments, frames and _aiguières_, composed of distorted and tortured ears. Another master of Amsterdam who published many plates in the same extraordinary taste was Gerbrandt van der Eeckhout. He also worked in the middle of this century. This style attained its greatest vogue in Germany. There Friederich Unteutsch, a master carpenter of Frankfort, published (1650) 110 plates of all kinds of furniture, on which the ear is prominent as an ornament. Daniel Rabel (_d._ 1637), also used the _genre auriculaire_ in France, but there its life was short and feeble. CHAPTER VI SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (DUTCH) Famous Dutch Architects—The Royal Palace on the Dam, Het Loo, the Mauritshuis and Huis ten Bosch—Interior Carvings—Specimens of Rooms and Ceilings in the Rijks Museum—Love of the Dutch for their Houses—Miniature Dutch Houses and Models of Old Amsterdam Houses in the Rijks Museum—Architecture of the Seventeenth Century—A Typical Dutch Home—The _Luifel_, _Voorhuis_ and _Comptoir_— Interior Decorations and Furniture—Dutch Mania for Cleaning— Descriptions by Travellers of Dutch Houses and Cleaning—Cleaning Utensils—House and Furniture of Andreas Hulstman Janz, in Dordrecht—Inventory of Gertrude van Mierevelt, wife of the painter, in Delft—“Show-rooms” and their Furnishings—Cooking Utensils—Bedroom in the House of Mrs. Lidia van der Dussen in Dordrecht—The Cradle and “Fire-Basket”—The Baby’s Silver—The “Bride’s Basket”—The “Bride’s Crown” and “Throne”—Decorations for a Wedding—Description by Sir John Lower of the Farewell Entertainment to Charles II at The Hague. The most important architects of this period were Hendrik de Keyser (1565–1621), Jacob van Kampen (1598–1657), and Philip Vinckboons (1608–75).