Kwab | Ornament as Art in the Age of Rembrandt | ENG

Fantastic sea creatures, monstrous beasts, whimsical body shapes, and fluid contours that seem to drip like treacle from a spoon: all are manifestations of the seventeenth-century ornamental language known as ‘kwab’ - auricular or lobate in English.

Sensational kwab is the Netherland’s most important contribution to the decorative arts of Europe. Its originators - Dutch silversmiths Paulus and Adam van Vianen and Johannes Lutma - enjoyed unprecedented fame in their day. Their work not only inspired Dutch artists such as Rembrandt and Gerbrand van den EecKhout, cabinetmakers, silversmiths and sculptors, but also designers and artists from England, France and Germany.

Reinier Baarsen tells the fascinating story of this revolutionary ‘Dutch Design of the Golden Age’. He presents a selection of the finest silverware, paintings, prints and drawings, tables and cabinets, gilt­leather wall coverings and brass church fittings.