Schetsboek met 39 bladen 1820 - 1872

Hendrik Abraham Klinkhamer created this sketchbook with 39 sheets, its exact date unknown. What might seem a simple, overlooked object, is in fact a holder of hidden imagery. Consider the very binding of this book. The act of binding is an ancient symbol, evoking ideas of connection, unity, and constraint. In ancient Roman times, books were not just carriers of text but were potent symbols of knowledge and authority, often adorned with symbols reflecting the owner's status. Yet, even the humblest of bindings can represent a conscious, even subconscious desire to organize thoughts, capture ideas, and impose order onto the chaos of existence. The sketchbook’s structure, the sequential arrangement of its pages, echoes the human impulse to narrate, to create a linear progression through experience. This cyclical nature embodies the human condition, where memories and motifs resurface, evolving with each telling. The blank pages within such a binding become a stage for the drama of the human mind, a repository for personal and collective myths.