Old Houses in HollandJones, Sydney R. (Sydney Robert)
History
Old Houses in Holland
Jones, Sydney R. (Sydney Robert)
Architecture, Domestic -- Netherlands
Many eighteenth-century doorways were unduly florid and may well
be described as rococo. That from Marssum in Friesland (below),
belonging to the year 1713, is of this kind. The overladen ornament and
peculiarities of design suggest the unreality of a poor stage-setting,
rather than serious architecture; while the incongruity of the work
can only be appreciated by an inspection of the original, situated as
it is among cottages in a quiet village street. Later in the century
French influence was predominant. Details, such as are noticeable in
the Arnhem doorway (page 94), were based on the Louis XV. style which
not only affected the work of the towns but permeated into the heart
of the country. The small cottage doors and doorways in villages such
as Broek have all the attributes of the then prevailing mode.
The wooden doors were much enriched either with applied ironwork,
or mouldings and panels. Metal locks, bolts, hinges and nails are
conspicuous in the early specimens. The use of ironwork on the door
from Dordrecht (page 95) is carried to an extreme degree; but, be it
noted, all the fittings have a practical purpose. It was only after
needs had been provided for that embellishment was added, discernible
in the shaping of the lock-plates and hinges and the arrangement of the
nailheads. The centre of the more recent example from Haarlem (page 95)
is occupied by a large sunk panel surrounded by mouldings, a section of
which is given. A good piece of woodcarving is that appearing on the
lintel, having for its subject a ship sailing on rough water.
Windows of houses were almost always square-headed. They appear so in
existing examples belonging to the Gothic period. The traceries and
pointed heads, usual in early civic buildings, were rarely adopted
for house windows, although arched spaces, filled with tracery, were
not uncommonly built over them. A fine series of such window-heads is
to be seen on the stone front of the "Scotch House" at Veere (page
97); there are others at Kampen and on a house in the Groenmarkt at
Dordrecht. Except in cases where the openings were small, they were
divided vertically by mullions and transversely by cross-bars. The
lower windows were closed by wooden shutters. Two examples, from
Nijmegen and Dordrecht (page 99), both of Gothic design and of
sixteenth century workmanship, are illustrated. The Dordrecht shutter
is constructed of beautifully grained pieces of oak, jointed and
pegged together.
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