A Dutch Delft blue and white model of a calvary, last quarter 17th C.

Attributed to Samuel van Eenhoorn, De Grieksche A, 1678-1686. The demi-lune shaped base, resting on feet, is decorated with scenes from the life of Christ on the lower part. The flat area in front of the calvary is decorated with finely executed Ruyi patterns, a clear wink to the Chinese influence on Dutch Delftware, also to be found on Islamic ceramics. The blue ground calvary is flanked by Mary, depicted standing, resting on a base showing portraits of John, and John, also standing, resting on a base showing portraits of Mary. Both figures are looking upwards at Christ hanging on the cross. The crucifix itself is of a slightly later date. It was removed from another important piece of Dutch Delftware, a regular crucifix, probably from the "De Witte Starre" workshop.

An original example from which this crucifix was removed and inserted into our present piece can be found in the Philadelphia Museum collection, Accession Number 1921-3-171, a (see http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/40302.html?mulR=958926532|1 ) This crucifix was made at the "De Twee Scheepjes" factory, under Johannes Gaal or his widow (1707-25). The present piece shows triking similarities with a fine signed Samuel van Eenhoorn piece, depicted in Aronson, 2013, The Ivan B. Hart Collection, p.30, Cat. Nr. 18: A pair of blue and white triangular candlestick bases, Delft, ca. 1680-1685 (see http://issuu.com/artsolution/docs/cat13_masterart-optimized/12 ) Just like these, the demi-lune shaped base is decorated with scenes from the life of Christ. From left to right: The visit of the 3 Magi or The Circumcision, The Flight into Egypt, The Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, The Flagellation, Ecce Homo, Crucifixion. These scenes are clearly from the same painter. Two other models of calvaries are known, both in Dutch museum collections. One is in the collection of Museum Het Prinsenhof in Delft and marked WB for Dirck Witsenburg from "De Witte Starre" workshop, active 1691-1705. It was previously part of the Kolisch collection and found its way to the museum around the year 2000. This example, however, has a later crucifix inserted, probably not made in Delft. It also features a less elaborate decoration on the front of the demi-lune shaped base, depicting flowers instead of the scenes from the life of Christ. Another example is in the collection of the museum Lambert van Meerten (inv. nr. LM128), on loan from the Gemeente Musea Delft collectie. This incomplete example lacks the figures of Mary and John, and has no crucifix inserted. This example also shows the scenes from the life of Christ, and has the central demi-lune shaped panel showing Christ falling while carrying the cross. It does not show any Chinese influence, so typical for Samuel van Eenhoorn's and his Greek A workshop's production. We believe the present example on offer to be the earliest of the three examples known. The fact that all three examples don't have an original crucifix inserted, leads us to believe that these calvaries were intended to be used with a crucifix of choice.

H: 51 cm