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What a fantastic addition it would have been to the exhibition At Home in the 17th Century if modern visitors could be guided through this exhibition by a 17th-century inhabitant. He or she could explain the traditions and rituals associated with using a Hansje-in-de-kelder (Jack in the cellar, a tazza used for a pregnancy toast), or describe the role of the fire curfew, displayed in the first room, in the daily life as a person from the 17th century. However, even if this is an experience that modern times yet cannot facilitate, the curators of this exhibition have provided visitors with a guide to help them better understand daily life in the Netherlands during the 17th century. The idea for an exhibition on daily life in the 17th century dates back about 10 years. A team of curators, all working in the Decorative Arts department of the Rijksmuseum, spent 5 years developing the concept. While visitors might have expected an exhibition composed of an abundant selection of paintings, which could have been displayed as illustrations, remarkably, the exhibition's starting point was the object itself—consistently referred to as stuff by the curators rather than the museum world's typical term object. The number of paintings shown was limited to six, and obvious paintings with subjects such as interiors or genre scenes were not present.1 Nevertheless, it is just a short walk from the exhibition halls to the Rijksmuseum's Gallery of Honour and the rooms dedicated to the 17th century, where interior scenes by Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and Gabriel Metsu, to name just a few painters, can be seen. The accuracy of these paintings should be taken with a grain of salt, as has been documented in many articles and books. Therefore, it is commendable that the curators chose to focus entirely on the object and minimised the number of paintings.2 What was most striking about the exhibition itself was the way the objects were presented to the public. The curators could have chosen to display these in showcases side by side, offering the opportunity to view them from all angles. Traditionally, the focus in the museum world is on the artistic value and quality of execution, in short, the art-historical aspect, as the director of the Rijksmuseum, Taco Dibbits, explains in the introduction to the accompanying book. Instead, in this exhibition the museum chose to centre the function and the people who used the object, as much as possible within the original contexts of the object's use. To achieve this, theatre set designer and visual artist Steef de Jong was enlisted. He recreated the context in which some objects functioned, using cardboard, based on, for example, the interiors from one of the dollhouses displayed in the exhibition. A nice example is the fire curfew displayed in the very first room (Figure 1). By placing it in the context of the (cardboard) hearth, it instantly becomes clear where the object originally stood and how it functioned: as a cover for the still-smouldering hearth remains, to protect the house and its inhabitants, and as a starting point, where the still-warm ashes could serve as the base for the fire in the hearth the next day. The structure of the exhibition followed a day in the 17th century, spread across nine rooms, starting with early morning, morning and rising, followed by daytime with sub-themes of household, education and work, and finally evening and late evening. Two rooms deviated from this storyline: the second, which addressed the diversity of houses, and the eighth room dedicated to death. There was a deliberate effort to not only focus on the most obvious layer of society, from which most material remnants have been preserved, namely the upper class. Using estate inventories and displaying archaeological finds, the curators also aimed to highlight objects and experiences related to other layers of society. This was nicely illustrated in the second room, where one of the two 17th-century dollhouses from the Rijksmuseum's collection was prominently displayed: that of Petronella Dunois. Spread across three floors, it shows eight richly furnished rooms, featuring not only a large number of dolls but also a wide selection of miniature silverware. Contrary to common belief, this dollhouse, like other preserved examples, does not provide an exact picture of life in a wealthy household at the end of the century but rather an idealised image meant to inspire emulation.3 To illustrate the diversity of living conditions, a replica made of cardboard, with the same dimensions as the dollhouse, was placed opposite it, filled with a completely different interpretation (Figure 2). The two doors displayed a transcription of the estate inventory of Thomas Hendricks of Zwolle, dated 14 October 1673. The very modest possessions listed there have been reconstructed in cardboard, filling the contents of the cabinet. The contrast between this cardboard reconstruction and the rich dollhouse opposite it could not be greater. Under the theme morning/rising, a series of objects related to preparing for the day were presented. In addition to a box bed, part of a wooden structure, and a men's smock, we also find objects related to going to bed, such as a beautiful bedpan from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. The vaginal syringe, an archaeological find from a cesspit in the eastern Netherlands city of Zwolle, can be considered rather curious, as the phallus shaped object likely served for more than vaginal douches with herbal preparations. The heart of the exhibition consisted of three rooms showcasing daily activities during the day. Since this is a large, multifaceted theme, the curators divided it into household, education and work. One of the key paintings in this section is by Joachim Wtewael, depicting his daughter Eva working on a piece of lacework while seated next to a table. This early 17th-century table was inherited and eventually became part of the Centraal Museum's collection in Utrecht, and it was displayed next to the painting, along with a cabinet of Utrecht-type, which was also kept in the family. The fact that both the table and the cabinet are shown on a nearly identical floor of red and black tiles as seen in the painting, yet carefully reconstructed from cardboard, might go unnoticed by many visitors. Indeed, some may have also overlooked the subtle curatorial play with scale and reconstruction exemplified by the inclusion of both the dollhouse of Petronella Oortman, perhaps the most important 17th-century dollhouse, as well as elements of it reconstructed life-size by Steef de Jong using cardboard, such as the flame-stitch wallpaper in the following room, or the cupboard showcasing the archaeological finds from the Sonck family's cesspit. The impressive culmination of the exhibition consisted of three rooms dedicated to the late evening and death. Within these rooms, the topic of cooking and eating was illustrated by a set dining table featuring tableware and silverware from the collection of the wealthy Amsterdam resident Agneta Deutz. By will, she bequeathed part of her household items to the almshouse she founded on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht, which is why a lamp jug, bowl, spice box and four candlesticks have remained together. One of the four candlesticks was once given to her by her mother and made by the Amsterdam silversmith Andries Grill. The candlestick was so much appreciated that later the same year, three copies were ordered from a silversmith in Delft. It is wonderful that the exhibition reunited these silver objects, which have been on loan to the Rijksmuseum for a century, with objects from Agneta's household, preserved in the almshouse. It should be noted, however, that one of the embroidered chairs from her collection was also displayed, in the next room, dedicated to the late evening. This room itself can be seen as a representation of the 17th-century sael, the most important room in the house of a wealthy family. The enormous fireplace (Figure 3), designed by Philips Vingboons II and originating from the house of Joan Huydecoper in Amsterdam, the tapestries on either side, the chairs along the edges of the room and the wall with family portraits gave a good impression of such an imposing room. A drinking glass, a board game and a virginal illustrated the activities that took place in this room late in the evening. Finally, at the end of the exhibition, there was a front door that could be opened entirely or only at the top, marking the boundary between home and street, and for the modern visitor the moment to return to the present time. The accompanying publication, written by the team of curators who also organised the exhibition, supplemented by an archaeologist and anthropologist, has a different structure than the exhibition. It is divided into only two main themes: everyday activities, including home, body, meal and household, and major life events, including birth, marriage and death, with each author loosely discussing a selection of objects related to the theme. The thread that ties these themes together is not so much the objects themselves, which are depicted in full-page illustrations within the text, but rather a number of real historical individuals who emerge from various sources and who reappear throughout the different chapters. To achieve this, the book makes extensive use of source material: probate inventories listing the possessions of the deceased, notebooks recording household expenses and of course diaries. These sources are discussed in detail, providing the objects with historical context. The objects displayed in the exhibition are all mentioned in the text, but not all are illustrated, and there are some objects mentioned or illustrated in the book that did not feature in the exhibition. For example, the box bed depicted in the book's images was not on display, while a similar, but smaller, version was.4 At the back of the book, there is a list of illustrations, which mentions the objects along with captions, current owners and inventory numbers. Unfortunately, it is not clear from this list which objects were and which were not part of the exhibition. Moreover, the book lacks a catalogue with entries. On the one hand, it is understandable that no such catalogue was included, as the entries would have inevitably focused on the art-historical narrative, rather than the lived experience the curatorial team sought to evoke through material culture. On the other hand, entries would have allowed for deeper exploration of the objects themselves and their context, and would have made relevant literature more easily accessible. As it stands, all the additional information about the objects shown in the exhibition must be pieced together from endnotes and the list of illustrations. No doubt, such a book would have been twice as thick and considerably more expensive had such a catalogue been included, but it would have significantly increased the scholarly value of this already important publication. The book's beautiful design comes from the studio of Irma Boom, who has been responsible for the Rijksmuseum's publications for some time. Unfortunately, the captions for the images are placed at an angle to the image itself, making reading the book at times feel like steering a wheel. The soft cardboard cover—a reference to the cardboard used in the exhibition?—features a blind embossing of a key, symbolising access to the home, much as the book makes the exhibition accessible. Besides a few shortcomings, the authors have written a highly informative and accessible introduction for a broad audience to life in Holland in the seventeenth century, and it is to be hoped for that they might do the same for the eighteenth century in the near future as well, accompanied by an exhibition with the same gusto and boldness as the present one.