Koperen lakstempel met de initialen W.D. van Willem Drees 1900 - 1910

This is a copper sealing stamp with the initials W.D. for Willem Drees. Think about the gesture of sealing a letter, or a document - the slight pressure, the molten wax, the moment of certainty and commitment. I wonder about the hands that held this stamp, the weight of it, the personal or political pronouncements it marked as official. I imagine the careful craft that went into this piece, the anonymous maker focused on the details, on the quality of the wood, the precision of the engraving, the shine of the metal, maybe with a view to the needs and preferences of Willem Drees. There is something compelling about an object that connects the tactile, the performative, and the symbolic. Like a painting, it contains both a gesture and an image.