Hans of Antwerp

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John or Hans of Antwerp was a goldsmith and merchant working in Tudor London.[1]

Sometimes called "Hans van Antwerpen", his full name may have been Hans van de Gow or Goes of Antwerp.[2] In English records he was usually called "John Andewarpe".

Hans of Antwerp was first recorded in London in 1511. He supplied silver plate and jewels to the court of Henry VIII and joined the London company of goldsmith in 1537.[3]

In 1528 four of his apprentices were admitted into the London Goldsmiths' company as freemen. He was not yet a freeman of the company, but was censured by the Goldsmith's company for not having his work hallmarked. In 1536 he was briefly imprisoned for employing a foreign craftsman without the permission of the company. In 1537 he was made a freeman by the intervention of Thomas Cromwell.[4]

In 1537 "Johan of Andwarpe" sold "goldsmith's works" to Princess Mary.[5]

A portrait from 1592 depicts a woman wearing a girdle book

A portrait by Hans Holbein the younger dated 1532 in the Royal Collection, and another image in the V&A were believed to depict him, but conservation work and technical examination in 2012 demonstrated that another individual, an unknown wealthy merchant of London's Steelyard is the subject.[6] Hans was an executor of Holbein's will. Holbein owed him £6.[7]

A gold girdle book cover in the British Museum is attributed to him.[8] The enamelled inscriptions follow (with some errors) the printed English bible of 1539 or 1540.[9] It depicts in enamel the story of the brazen serpent on one side, and on the other, the Judgement of Solomon.[10]

A similar girdle book is depicted in a 1592 portrait of Elizabeth, Philippa, or Joan Speke from Somerset, evidently wearing a treasured heirloom. The girdle book attributed to Hans of Antwerp was updated for use with a book published in 1574.[11]

In 1547 he worked with another goldsmith, Peter Anderson, to supply gilt plate to Henry VIII.[12]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ Lionel Cust, 'John of Antwerp, Goldsmith, and Hans Holbein', Burlington Magazine, 8 (1905/1906), pp. 356-60.
  2. ^ Susan James, The Feminine Dynamic in English Art: Women as Consumers (Routledge, 2017), p. 28.
  3. ^ Phillipa Glanville, Silver in England (Routledge, 1987), p. 223.
  4. ^ Hugh Tait, 'Goldsmiths and their work at the Court of Henry VIII', David Starkey, Henry VIII: A European Court in England (London, 1991), p. 113.
  5. ^ Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary, p. 20.
  6. ^ Vanessa Thorpe, 'X-rays reveal true identity of subject in Holbein portrait', Observer Art, 14 Oct 2012
  7. ^ Augustus Franks, 'Discovery of the Will of Hans Holbein', Archaeologia, 39, p. 13.
  8. ^ Hugh Tait, 'Girdle Prayer Book', Anna Somers Cocks, Princely Magnificence: Court Jewels of the Renaissance (London, 1980), pp. 48-50.
  9. ^ Hugh Tait, 'Goldsmiths and their work at the Court of Henry VIII', David Starkey, Henry VIII: A European Court in England (London, 1991), p. 114.
  10. ^ Phillipa Glanville, Silver in England (Routleadge, 1987), pp. 223-4: Hugh Tait, 'The Girdle-prayerbook', Jewellery Studies, 2 (1985), pp. 29-57.
  11. ^ Anna Somers Cocks, Princely Magnificence: Court Jewels of the Renaissance (London, 1980), p. 106.
  12. ^ Augustus Franks, 'Discovery of the Will of Hans Holbein', Archaeologia, 39, p. 13.
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