Kwitantie voor Maria Bilders-van Bosse 1880

Curator: Here we have a receipt, “Kwitantie voor Maria Bilders-van Bosse,” from 1880, issued by Frans Buffa en Zonen. It's an ink drawing on paper. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: It strikes me as both fragile and resolute. The script is delicate, but the fact that it has survived this long gives it a certain quiet strength. The handwritten text really captures the immediate transaction. Curator: It’s fascinating how a simple piece of paper like this connects us to the commercial practices of the art world back then. The transaction is the sale of watercolor by H. Bilders van Bosse for seventy florins! This brings up questions of artistic patronage, craft economies and how art was valued in that specific moment and place. Editor: The flowing script feels almost like a performance in itself, each stroke deliberate yet fluid. The loops and flourishes add an element of personalization beyond the purely transactional. What can you make of the visual symbols it evokes? Are they specific to the time or do they have a wider significance? Curator: Absolutely! The use of a handwritten receipt indicates the personal relationships inherent in art dealing, a slower system that relies on human interaction and reputation. Mass production was present but didn't hold the sway it would come to, this handwritten element is therefore highly intriguing as to the place of artistic value and craftsmanship. Editor: I agree! It gives the impression of integrity, a promise of worth written out and made visual. In its own way, it stands as a humble monument to Maria Bilders-van Bosse. Curator: Precisely. Seeing this shifts my perspective. Editor: Yes, the material reality gives tangible weight to that past world of art and finance.