1096 - Silver miniature windmill, Netherlands, movable lattice sails, gallery and staffage figure, marked

Silver miniature windmill, Netherlands, movable lattice sails, gallery and staffage figure, marked Silver, miniature of a Dutch windmill, marked under the base plate: crowned shield with three stars, letter "B" in a rectangle, mark with letter "H" and a small oval mark. Round, embossed base plate with beaded rim, on it a round tower with engraved brick pattern, door and round-arched windows with glazing bars, encircling gallery with railing, above it the conical mill body, finely engraved lengthwise, with window with glazing bars, pierced cap, lateral mast and rear tail pole with small spoked wheel, four movable lattice sails; in front of the tower a man with a wide-brimmed hat as staffage figure. Good condition commensurate with age, small dent in the base plate. D. 5.5 cm, H. 8.5 cm, weight 53 g. 360-degree photo available on our website. Miniature silver of this kind has its roots in Amsterdam, where from the 2nd half of the 17th century wealthy burgher women furnished their dolls' houses with tiny silver copies of their own household goods and displayed the pieces in cabinets as part of their art collection. In the 1st half of the 18th century this fashion reached its peak; silversmiths such as Arnoldus van Geffen and the van Somerwil and van Strant families had specialised entirely in such dolls' house miniatures. Among the ladies there was a contest for the most up-to-date furnishings, so that the miniature silversmiths constantly had to supply new models. Such silver miniatures are still made in the Netherlands today, and a windmill with gallery, tail pole and staffage figure stands in this tradition of dolls' house silver.