Art at auction in 17th century Amsterdam

Abstract

In the economic development of Western Europe, urbanization, markets, and the

commercialization of art followed parallel trends. In the course of time, when mar- kets became fairly developed, auctions of general merchandise and of art works

emerged –in ancient Rome, in early 15th century Venice,2 in 16th century Antwerp and Amsterdam3– as a quick and efficient way to dispose of goods. Amsterdam in the late 16th and 17th centuries was primarily a trading city. Almost

everyone had things to sell, from the master craftsman to the merchant engaged in in- ternational trade. Already from the mid-1580s, after Antwerp had fallen to Spanish

troops and its port on the Scheldt had been blocked by the Dutch insurgents in their war of liberation against Spain, Amsterdam had become the premier emporium and

entrepôt of Europe, the place where merchants in the rest of Europe could most con- veniently and economically purchase all manner of staples, from cannon shot to mer- cury. Many of these staples reached the market via agreements freely negotiated

among competitive buyers and sellers on Amsterdam’s stock market – its beurs – and

in other places where traders met and dealt. But, as we shall see presently, auctions al- so played a significant role in making a market for a number of commodities, includ- ing lumber, leather, peat, spices, tulip bulbs, imported porcelain wares and ship’s

equipment. The “law of one price, one market” was already so well established by 1585 that weekly price lists were printed for most staples traded on the beurs which served as reference points for the rest of Europe.4 This commercial culture extended

to trading in works of art. For a merchant or a successful craftsman who had attend- ed auctions of spices or ship’s equipment or who had traded on the beurs, buying

works of art at an auction held by the Orphan Chamber or by the Bankruptcy Cham- ber (Desolate Boedelskamer) must have seemed like a natural extension of his busi- ness activity. Ever since the beginning of the 16th century paintings had been sold at

auction as part of the estates of deceased citizens, along with their clothes, their fur- niture and their pots and pans. But for those who were too busy to attend these mixed

sales, specialized auctions of works of art had been held in Amsterdam at least as ear- ly as 1608.