Zilveren beker van het Haarlemse Sint-Maartensgilde 1847 - 1891

Johan Conrad Greive created this etching of the Silver Cup of the Haarlem Guild of St. Martin. Its intricate detailing is achieved through a complex network of lines, commanding our attention. The cup's structure, with its tiered divisions and elaborate ornamentation, plays with semiotic notions of status and tradition. Greive, in his choice of monochromatic tones, invites us to interpret the interplay of light and shadow which gives the metal cup a sense of volume. Notice how the verticality of the cup is contrasted with the horizontal etching lines in the background which subtly destabilize our perception of depth and space. This formal strategy invites viewers to consider the cup not only as a symbol of status, but also as an aesthetic object whose meaning is generated through the relationships between its various parts.