Leopard Antiques Dutch Silver Sugar Caster (Strooibus) - Pieter van der Kruyf, Rijksmuseum

Dutch Silver Sugar Caster (Strooibus) - Pieter van der Kruyf, Rijksmuseum	Order Form Request more information

Reference: S11192 Period: George III Year: 1761 Silversmith: Pieter van der Kruyf Place: The Hague Price: $ 6 000.00 Weight: 511 grams Dimensions: 23.6 cm height Condition: Very good, except a small 1.5 cm kink to main body, this is an old dent that has been repaired. Pierced top in excellent condition with no damage to piercing at all. Description: A magnificent 18th Century Dutch silver sugar caster (strooibus), made in The Hague in 1761 by Pieter van der Kruyf. The caster is large, just under 24 cm, and heavy at 511 grammes, the quality is superlative, this is a museum quality piece. The caster is the traditional baluster shape, but the main body has four twisted ribs, beginning at the foot, which swirl upwards, a very pleasing design feature. The roughly octagonal and cast base has 4 raised leaf like designs. The caster lid also has an attractive design, with very intricate piercings (rococo scrolls) and textured engraving. The finial is a cast flower bud. The hallmarks on the caster lid are clear, crowned lion rampant standard mark (fineness 934), The Hague (Den Haag or S Gravenhage) city mark (stork holding eel below coronet), date letter P crowned for 1761, all 3 of the marks are well struck. The 4th mark is makers mark PK in rectangular punch, the P is worn but the K is clear. There are no hallmarks on the base. A very similar sugar caster, made by Pieter van der Kruyf in 1768, is present in the Rijksmuseum collection, fully described and depicted on their website (www.rijksmuseum.nl). As can be seen, the pierced and engraved caster lid is almost identical, with very slight differences to the engraving, and a slightly different finial. The main body is also very similar, but the foot has a different design. The Rijksmuseum example is also depicted in the book "Dutch Silver" by M.H Gans, published in 1961, plate 93, and is also depicted in the book "Nederlands Zilver 1580-1830", pages 280-281, where it is incorrectly attributed to Pieter Kersbergen (the Rijksmuseum website clarifies the attribution to Kersbergen has been rejected). Another pair of very similar Dutch sugar casters, made by Reynier de Haan in The Hague in 1772, are depicted on the TEFAF website (www.tefaf.com, New York Fall 2018) exhibited by Aardewerk Antiquair Juwelier, they are a similar size and design with the twisted ribs, but slightly lighter (460 grammes each). They are described as "Louis XV style silver casters, among the largest of their kind ever made in the Netherlands", with provenance Sotheby's Amsterdam 1978, lot 496. Note 2 - In November 2022 Aardewerk (www.aardewerk.com) showcased another pair of very similar Rococo silver casters, these by Johannes Schiotling Amsterdam 1765, described as "impressive Louis XV-style casters", from the exceptionally large category ( about 24 cm height), the rarest group of the 3 categories of 18th Century Dutch casters. The pair weigh 401 and 412 grams respectively, so significantly lighter than this example by Pieter van der Kruyf. Note 1 - On closer inspection of this caster, we have realised our description did not do justice to the twisted swirl in the design, which catches the light from every angle, clearly made by a master craftsman to be able to execute this design. This is repeated in the pierced lid, repeated in each of the 4 panels, which led us to incorrectly refer to "small dents to pierced top" - we now believe these indents are part of the design, as they repeat in the same place on each panel - so we now describe the pierced lid in excellent condition, no dents or any damage to piercing. Note 2 - The "small kink to main body" in our condition report is 2 cm long, parallel to the rim (top not base) about 1.5 cm beneath the rim. It is not easy to spot, only visible in certain light, we now believe this is an old dent that has been repaired, you can see light hammer marks on the interior behind the dent. Given the swirling nature of the caster and the fact it has no flat surfaces, this would have been a difficult repair and hence is still faintly visible.


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Dutch Silver Sugar Caster (Strooibus) - Pieter van der Kruyf, Rijksmuseum


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Dutch Silver Sugar Caster (Strooibus)


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Dutch Silver Sugar Caster piercing and engraving


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Antique dutch silver caster detail


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Pieter van der Kruyf, dutch silver caster foot


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Antique dutch silver finial


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Sugar caster lid interior


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Dutch Silver Sugar Caster cast base


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Dutch Silver Sugar Caster (Strooibus) - Pieter van der Kruyf, Rijksmuseum


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Pieter van der Kruyf, The Hague, 1761 silver hallmarks


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Pieter van der Kruyf, dutch silver caster scale

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