‘Hansel in the Cellar’ 1669 - 1670

‘Hansel in the Cellar’ is a silver and gilded standing cup made by Focko Raerda, a silversmith who lived in the Northern Netherlands in the seventeenth century. These standing cups were luxury objects, emblems of status and wealth that would have been displayed on tables and sideboards in wealthy households. Cups like this were often decorated with mythological or allegorical figures, or else with scenes from the Bible. ‘Hansel in the Cellar’ refers to a tradition that children were not born but grew, like beer in the cellar. The cup has a small man standing in it who holds a spear and a shield that is inscribed with what appears to be a coat of arms, associating family lineage with the cup. The records of guilds, and inventories of silver objects in wills are just some of the sources that can help us to learn more about the place of objects like this in Dutch society.