Dutch alders from Rotterdam for Audley End – part 3

Het derde en laatste deel van mijn serie over een levering van 3000 elzen vanuit Rotterdam naar Audley End in Essex in 1775. Op basis van rekeningen gevonden in het archief van Huys ten Donck probeer ik te bepalen of deze specifieke levering economisch zinvol was.

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Summary

Het derde en laatste deel van mijn serie over een levering van 3000 elzen vanuit Rotterdam naar Audley End in Essex in 1775. Op basis van rekeningen gevonden in het archief van Huys ten Donck probeer ik te bepalen of deze specifieke levering economisch zinvol was.

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De ‘Rouina’ van Huys ten Donck revisited

Over five years ago I posted a piece about the ruin in the park of Huys ten Donck, near Ridderkerk. The estate accounts mention the ruin had been stuccoed in 1777. Based on that, and on the only available photo of a contemporary painting, I concluded that the glass painting made by Zeuner shows this stuccoed front. The original, however, shows a brick wall. It appears this old photo is very bad (unfortunately I have no better photo). I still stand by my conclusion, although this new information raises several other questions.

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Summary

Over five years ago I posted a piece about the ruin in the park of Huys ten Donck, near Ridderkerk. The estate accounts mention the ruin had been stuccoed in 1777. Based on that, and on the only available photo of a contemporary painting, I concluded that the glass painting made by Zeuner shows this stuccoed front. The original, however, shows a brick wall. It appears this old photo is very bad (unfortunately I have no better photo). I still stand by my conclusion, although this new information raises several other questions.

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Huys ten Donck’s huisje van Wilhelm Tell gedateerd

At Huys ten Donck, the building date of a now lost garden pavilion resembling Wilhelm Tell’s ‘kapelle’ on the rocky shores of the Vierwaldstättersee in Switzerland, was unknown. The estimate was that it was built circa 1800, although the layout of the garden it sat in, is known to have taken place in 1792.
One document in the house archive -a hand written version of the legend of Wilhelm Tell- mentions that this pavilion had just been built. This document is dated 29 September 1792. Earlier that year, a carpenter was paid ƒ219,- for his work on the ‘Capelleke Buyten’.
Both documents confirm that the pavilion was built simultaneously with the creation of this new layout of the garden (the ‘nieuwe werk’).

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Summary

At Huys ten Donck, the building date of a now lost garden pavilion resembling Wilhelm Tell’s ‘kapelle’ on the rocky shores of the Vierwaldstättersee in Switzerland, was unknown. The estimate was that it was built circa 1800, although the layout of the garden it sat in, is known to have taken place in 1792.
One document in the house archive -a hand written version of the legend of Wilhelm Tell- mentions that this pavilion had just been built. This document is dated 29 September 1792. Earlier that year, a carpenter was paid ƒ219,- for his work on the ‘Capelleke Buyten’.
Both documents confirm that the pavilion was built simultaneously with the creation of this new layout of the garden (the ‘nieuwe werk’).

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Harde en Evergreene Heester Trees, Shrobbs

Published: my piece about the 18th century nurseryman Jacobus Gans, whose bold move from Haarlem to Hillegom (and his purchase of an estate there in 1771), is now explained. His formerly unknown partnership with Rotterdam merchant Bastiaan Molewater (1734-1780) played a deciding role in the rise and fall of his nursery.
The move itself makes it possible to put a date on Gans’ undated catalogues, especially because an unknown version has come to light, on which his sole address is still in Haarlem only.

Gans had ‘English’ and ‘American’ plants for sale, and mentioned that he had gone to England himself to collect them there. His use of ‘English’ terms when advertising the sales catalogue of these plants (see the advert and the title of this post), shows that no proper Dutch vocabulary was available (yet) for this type of planting material.

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Summary

Published: my piece about the 18th century nurseryman Jacobus Gans, whose bold move from Haarlem to Hillegom (and his purchase of an estate there in 1771), is now explained. His formerly unknown partnership with Rotterdam merchant Bastiaan Molewater (1734-1780) played a deciding role in the rise and fall of his nursery.
The move itself makes it possible to put a date on Gans’ undated catalogues, especially because an unknown version has come to light, on which his sole address is still in Haarlem only.

Gans had ‘English’ and ‘American’ plants for sale, and mentioned that he had gone to England himself to collect them there. His use of ‘English’ terms when advertising the sales catalogue of these plants (see the advert and the title of this post), shows that no proper Dutch vocabulary was available (yet) for this type of planting material.

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Methode voor het planten van een magnolia (1771)

A bill concerning the delivery of two trees in 1771 for Huys ten Donck reveals a specific method for the planting of magnolias. They had to be planted in the pot they were delivered in. After one or two years this pot should then be broken, while in the ground.

Philip Miller originally suggested to keep the plant in pots for the first two years (after sowing), so the tender young plants could be brought in when necessary during those first years. After that, they went into the ground, pot-less.

Apparently the succes rate of newly planted magnolias had been below expectation. Magnolias ranked under the most expensive garden plants of the time, so losing one of those was a costly and frustrating affair. Twenty-five years after the Dutch translation of Miller’s work was published, their planting method in the Netherlands had changed -probably as a result of that.

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Summary

A bill concerning the delivery of two trees in 1771 for Huys ten Donck reveals a specific method for the planting of magnolias. They had to be planted in the pot they were delivered in. After one or two years this pot should then be broken, while in the ground.

Philip Miller originally suggested to keep the plant in pots for the first two years (after sowing), so the tender young plants could be brought in when necessary during those first years. After that, they went into the ground, pot-less.

Apparently the succes rate of newly planted magnolias had been below expectation. Magnolias ranked under the most expensive garden plants of the time, so losing one of those was a costly and frustrating affair. Twenty-five years after the Dutch translation of Miller’s work was published, their planting method in the Netherlands had changed -probably as a result of that.

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Whale bone garden structures

De walvisbank die ooit in de tuin van Groenendaal in Heemstede stond, was een van de bekendste uit kaakbeenderen van walvissen opgebouwde tuinornamenten. Als datering wordt het begin van de 19de eeuw aangehouden, op het moment dat Adriaan Elias Hope eigenaar was van zowel Bosbeek als Groenendaal.
In de late jaren 1780 zien we aanwijzingen voor een hechte band tussen de moeder van Adriaan Elias Hope, de uit Rotterdam afkomstige Philippina Barbara van der Hoeven, en de eveneens in Rotterdam gevestigde familie Groeninx van Zoelen. Die laatsten kopen tussen twee bezoeken aan Bosbeek in, 6 walviskaakbeenderen.
Hier wordt de vraag gesteld of die beenderen misschien voor Bosbeek bedoeld waren?

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Summary

De walvisbank die ooit in de tuin van Groenendaal in Heemstede stond, was een van de bekendste uit kaakbeenderen van walvissen opgebouwde tuinornamenten. Als datering wordt het begin van de 19de eeuw aangehouden, op het moment dat Adriaan Elias Hope eigenaar was van zowel Bosbeek als Groenendaal.
In de late jaren 1780 zien we aanwijzingen voor een hechte band tussen de moeder van Adriaan Elias Hope, de uit Rotterdam afkomstige Philippina Barbara van der Hoeven, en de eveneens in Rotterdam gevestigde familie Groeninx van Zoelen. Die laatsten kopen tussen twee bezoeken aan Bosbeek in, 6 walviskaakbeenderen.
Hier wordt de vraag gesteld of die beenderen misschien voor Bosbeek bedoeld waren?

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‘op den donck gewerk aan de gabinet genaam Rouina’

The designer and builder of the ruin in the park of Huys ten Donck, near Ridderkerk, has been discovered. Two bills -which I found last week in the Rotterdam Municipal Archives, or Stadsarchief Rotterdam– reveal the identity of the architect as the Rotterdam-based Italian Giovanni (Jan) Giudici (1746-1819). The title of this post is a direct quote from one of these bills mentioning the work, in Dutch mixed with Italian influences.
That bill also leads to the conclusion that the ruin, now basically a screen of brick and stone, was originally covered in plaster when it was built in 1777.

This find adds at least one item to this architect’s portfolio, whose legacy was so hard hit by the 15 minute bombing of Rotterdam by German forces on May 14, 1940. This tragedy all but devastated the inner city, including what was left there of the architect’s work.
Luckily some of his work done outside that city can still be seen. We now know that part of his legacy is at Huys ten Donck near Ridderkerk. The house itself may contain more of his work, these same bills reveal. Architectural historians can chew on that piece of information.

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Summary

The designer and builder of the ruin in the park of Huys ten Donck, near Ridderkerk, has been discovered. Two bills -which I found last week in the Rotterdam Municipal Archives, or Stadsarchief Rotterdam– reveal the identity of the architect as the Rotterdam-based Italian Giovanni (Jan) Giudici (1746-1819). The title of this post is a direct quote from one of these bills mentioning the work, in Dutch mixed with Italian influences.
That bill also leads to the conclusion that the ruin, now basically a screen of brick and stone, was originally covered in plaster when it was built in 1777.

This find adds at least one item to this architect’s portfolio, whose legacy was so hard hit by the 15 minute bombing of Rotterdam by German forces on May 14, 1940. This tragedy all but devastated the inner city, including what was left there of the architect’s work.
Luckily some of his work done outside that city can still be seen. We now know that part of his legacy is at Huys ten Donck near Ridderkerk. The house itself may contain more of his work, these same bills reveal. Architectural historians can chew on that piece of information.

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Swimming in the garden

An easily overlooked reference from 1766 indicates that the owner of Huys ten Donck (Ridderkerk) liked to swim in a ditch in his garden. No evidence of a bath house or similar structure has survived.

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Summary

An easily overlooked reference from 1766 indicates that the owner of Huys ten Donck (Ridderkerk) liked to swim in a ditch in his garden. No evidence of a bath house or similar structure has survived.

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