Silver treasures
Delicate craftsmanship
A lot of beautiful silverware was made in Harlingen. The town had its own guild and in the course of three centuries it was home to as many as 86 silversmiths.
Harlingen was one of the important centres in the rich silversmith tradition of Friesland. In the silver room you can see just what these silversmiths were capable of. The collection comprises brandy bowls with biblical scenes, stoves, and beautifully decorated goblets and candlesticks. The most important pieces on display are a wedding goblet from 1691, made by Willem Anskes Zeestra and a gilded tea-caddy made by Sijbren Sonnema in 1736. An exceptional trio is formed by a so-called wedding chest and the portraits of Claes Jurjens Fontein and Antje Reiners Jeddema. Claes presented his bride with the wedding chest engraved with his and her family crests on the occasion of their matrimony, on that day he fetched his bride from Leeuwarden by towing barge, an innovation at that time. Even older and fantastically engraved is the wedding chest of the Baptist Harlinger merchant Frans Reyniers Tempelar for his bride Yfke Johannes Tjesma
Also on display
