CARVED WOODEN CHANDELIER | WOODCARVING 18th Century Style | Flemish Woodcarver J.F. Allaert | Designmuseum in Ghent, Belgium

A little-known masterpiece 

of 18^th century Flemish Decorative Arts:

The Wooden chandelier by J.F. Allaert

A little while ago, I visited Ghent. This Flemish city has a wide range of historical buildings and places of interest. And a visit to the “Hotel de Coninck” was an absolute must. This museum houses a true masterpiece of 18^th century Flemish Decorative arts.

In 1961, the city council of Ghent purchased a large wooden chandelier from an antique dealer in Brussels. This purchase was made at the same time negotiations were underway with a buyer who wanted this piece for a foreign collection. This chandelier was originally made to adorn the residence of the Knight F.J. de Coninck, presently housing the museum of decorative arts (known as the “Design Museum Gent”).

A brief description of the wooden chandelier is necessary to give a better idea of this masterpiece of Flemish industrial art.

The total height of the wooden chandelier is 1.80m and the diameter is 1.17m. The chandelier was carved from limewood.

Wooden Chandelier of J.F.Allaert

The principal decoration consists of four allegorical figures, placed at the foot of the tree of life. They symbolize the continents as seen through the eyes of people in the 18th century. These four symbolic figures are each about 0.30m tall and represent the four continents Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

The four continents

Europe is depicted as a child in an upright position, wearing a helmet made of feathers. Around its neck it’s wearing a necklace of the Order of the Golden Fleece. A slightly draped skirt covers the lower part of its body. Between its legs, there’s a canon. Its right hand is gripping a sword at the hilt. Its left hand is reaching for the neck of an eagle wearing an imperial crown.

A ship connects “Europe” to “America”. This ship has been carved in great detail, with small canons coming out of the side, a mast with a crow’s nest, an anchor, etc.

America is symbolized by a child dressed up as an Indian, with drawn bow and arrow. A quiver is leaning against its right leg, which is spread out over a crocodile.

Next to “America” we find “Africa”. The figure is wearing a hat in the shape of an elephant’s head with trunk. In its right hand, the child is holding a cornucopia, from which corncobs are protruding. It’s riding a lion with long manes and a half open mouth.

Between “Africa” and “Europe” a child symbolizing “Asia” is placed on a lying camel. It’s wearing a turban for a hat, and is holding a censer in its left hand and a beam of rays in its right. This depiction evokes images of the Middle East.

The palm tree rising up between these four allegories houses a nest on top of a fan-shaped crown. An eagle is snatching a cub from the nest, right from under a winged dragon, with fiery tongue. 

This bird, with its wings spread wide, is holding an iron ring in its right claw, from which the chandelier is hanging. Underneath the allegorical figures representing the four continents, eight similarly arched arms spring from the bottom of the chandelier. These end in a dragon, of which the head supports the candle holder.

It is generally assumed that this wooden chandelier was made particularly for this residence. Tradition tells us that the artist, J.F. Allaert, worked on decorating this mansion under the patronage of the Knight de Coninck for many years. Striking is the fact that the chandelier was signed and dated on the bottom, with the depiction of the four continents sitting on top. Near the arms of the chandelier, hidden by the first rocaille, it says “J.F. Allaert 1770”.

WOODCARVING  18th Century Style

J.F. Allaert

This Flemish Woodcarver was born in Ghent on 14 October 1703 and died on 2 January 1779, at the age of 76.

Designmuseum, Ghent

Website DESIGNMUSEUM GHENT 

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

DOMAIN BOKRIJK | A WOOD CARVING DEMONSTRATION | The Open-air Museum of Bokrijk | SYNTRA - Arts & crafts courses

The open-air Museum
BOKRIJK (Belgium)

Syntra Tongeren: Arts & crafts courses

In 2013, the management of Domain Bokrijk decided to once again introduce visitors of the Open-air museum to the traditional artistic crafts and is planning on organising training courses in this respect.
Every weekend, in the months of July and August, the various arts & crafts at Syntra Tongeren will promote their particular craft.  To this end, the classes: restoration of paintings, millinery, glassblowing, goldsmith, woodcarver, etc. ... will be present every Sunday to dazzle you with their skills and expertise.

On 21 July (Belgian National Holiday) I had the privilige to give a demonstration at the Open-air museum. For 13 years now I’ve been teaching a professional course in ornamental carving – woodcarving and these demonstrations are very important in arousing the interest of possible new recruits for my course.

Patrick Damiaens, Demonstration Wood Carving

Bokrijk

The Provincial Domain Bokrijk is currently 550 hectares in area and is situated in the midst of a vast forest and various nature reserves. The domain is mostly known for its Open-air museum. This is, however, just one part of a much larger recreational park. Due to its amazing scenery, many television series and movies were shot on the domain.

The Open-air museum of Bokrijk was officially opened on 12 April 1958. Approximately 140 authentical buildings form the core of this heritage collection. Apart from these buildings, the collection also consists of traditional tools and common implements from days of yore. 

In total, the collection entails 35 000 pieces of fragile heritage, baring witness of everyday life from the 17th century up to the 1950s.

 

Domain of Bokrijk, Belgium

The open-air Museum, Bokrijk

Bokrijk, The old town

Collection

The museum has a collection of approximately 35,000 objects. Most of those objects are stored in the new depot. The others are in the historical buildings in the museum. As much as possible, the stories, customs, techniques and interesting facts are collected along with the collections and the houses. In that way, the museum also collects (and studies and exhibits) intangible cultural heritage.

The collection of the Bokrijk Open-air Museum consists primarily of objects that illustrate daily life, primarily in a rural context between the 17th and early 20th centuries. Due to its diversity and wide range, it is a unique collection in Flanders, especially the farming & food collections, as well as the living culture and (to a lesser degree), crafts.The collection was brought together largely through gifts. Where possible, the context information is presented as much as possible, such as interviews with the users of the objects donated. In principle, objects without any context information are not accepted unless they are exceptional pieces.
The objects come from all five of the provinces of Flanders.

Website Bokrijk

 

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

The GROESBEECK-de CROIX MUSEUM IN NAMUR | Historical Interiors | 18th Century Period Furniture

Groesbeeck-de Croix Museum (Garden view)

Patrick Damiaens
Ornamental woodcarver
 
The Groesbeeck-de Croix Museum in Namur 
 

























In this blog item we visit,  
The Groesbeeck-de Croix Museum in Namur (Belgium)

A museum of the decorative arts, it bears the name of the former owners of this XVIII century hôtel de maître. The atmosphere is one of an aristocratic residence of the Age of Enlightenment. 
The interior decoration blends in with the architecture. The collections here highlight the artistic works of sculptors, cabinet makers, goldsmiths, watchmakers, glassmakers, etc. of the Namur region. A “French” garden adds a note of greenery to the overall harmony. 

On the first flour of  GROESBEECK-de CROIX Namur

The Groesbeeck-de Croix Museum satisfies a two-fold interest. Firstly there is the external and internal architecture spanning the 17th and 18th centuries and the great variety of collections providing evidence of the prevailing styles and tastes from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Secondly, and more importantly, thanks to the synergy between the works of art and the building, there is an authentic apmosphere of a patrician home of the Age of Enlightenment, which has been preserved and developed year after year.

GROESBEECK-de CROIX MUSEUM IN NAMUR, Interior

Architecture

Between 1751 to 1753 the Belgian Jean-Baptiste Chermane (1704-1770) built it for Count Alexandre Francois de Groesbeeck. The building is divided into three wings in a H-shape and the central body contains some relics from the 17th century refuge of the abbey at Villers.
The 1751 reconstruction work is remarkably in line with the three fundamental rules of the 18th century architecture: a respect for intimacy, a search for a new functionality as well as an interest in the outside world. In a nutshell: a pleasure in life and a wish for pleasure.

Namur style Furniture

Namur-style wood carvings

A search for funtionality, that is to say, for anything whitch might make life easier, softer, and more pleasant is a response to the wish fot permanent dining room in the 18th century, prevented the table from having to be set properly for great occasions only and as a result, it was easier to put together smaller, more intimatr groups. The appearance of toilets, as well as the use of multiple layers and underwear, were also innovations introduced by J.B. Chermane.

We must also point out his admirable use of light, thanks to a system of indoor courtyards and also the diffusion of zenith light under the dome into the corridors, across the picture windows opening onto the vestibules of each floor and onto the staircase.

18th century Period style interiors

Finally numerous large windows are the most obvious feature giving an opening to the outside world. However, the very layout of the building had the same effect. The ground floor vestibule stretches across the entire house and creates a link between the lively and active world and the sealed-in world of the gardens.

The collections which belong to the Friends of the Hôtel de Croix, the Namur Archaeological Society and the town, can be divided into two groups: products of Namur on the one hand, and foreign products on the other.
The first group can be further divided  into furniture and ornaments and tools. Namur furniture is both architectural and majestic and was inspired both by French trends and the prevailing religios traditions.
Its decorations bear evidence of the development of styles from the Baroque through to the Louis XVI period. Let also not forget the precious French furniture (Cabinets, consoles, tables, armchairs...) which is kept on the ground floor.

Namur style furniture

The Interior décor
The town of Namur bought the Croix house in 1935; it features the entire span of different styles of decorating prevailing during the 18th Century. The wainscoting on the walls is decorated with simple geometric moulds and sometimes colour is used to highlight it. These panels might frame tapestries depicting rural landscapes  and woodlands, small romantic pictures , linen fabric with flower embroideries, pictures of wallpaper with floral and rock-work designs, hanging embossed panels of golden leather and even an example of vintage wallpaper.

The walls above the doors and fireplaces are decorated with paintings of elegant scenes, in the style of Jean-Antoine Watteau, scenes from mythology or even bunches of flowers. We owe most of the marble fireplaces sculpted in shell and rock shapes to Vandenbase.

18th century Namur-style wardrobe

 
There are also some works by other famous artistes from outside Namur City: Terracotta and marble works by the sculptor Laurent Delvaux, who was in the service of the Austrian governor, Charles de Lorraine, a bust of Vauban made by Coysevox, the official sculptor of Louis XIV, as well as a sketch by the Italian ornament painter, Tiepolo, pictures of flowers by Pierre-Joseph Redoute who was Marie-Antoinette's drawing teacher, and a portrait of the Sun King which has been attributed to H. Rigault furher adds to the charm and richness of the collections.

The Garden

If nature is present everywhere as inspiration for works of art indoors in the 18th century, it is nonetheless at its most poetic out in the garden. Four flowerbeds surround a pond giving it a symmetrical aspect, which further reinforces the view  of the elevated wing at the far end of the park. This is reminiscent of the rules of French gardening, which were dear to Le Notre. at the centre of this regularity however, there is a touch of English romanticism, in the form of a hundred-year-old tulip tree .
 
 

The GROESBEECK-de CROIX MUSEUM, Garden

 

 

Useful Information

Rue Joseph Saintraint 3,  5000 Namur ( Belgium)

Closed mondays and between Christmas and  New Year

Opening hours

From 10:00 to 12:00 am and 13:30 to 17:00 pm

Entrance fee 3 Euro

Time needed for tour is 1 Hour

Texte provided by the Museum

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info