A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’
Edo-period, circa 1830

 

H. 12.5 x W. 24 x D. 15 cm

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The house depicted on the lid is Het Trippenhuis, a neo-classical mansion on the Kloveniersburgwal in Amsterdam, based on a print ‘Gezicht op Klovenierswal ‘t Huis van de Heer Burgemeester Trip; en St Anthoniswaag’ from circa 1750, after a painting by Gerrit Adriaensz Berkheyde dated 1685.
Het Trippenhuis was built in 1660-1662 for the wealthy Amsterdam arms-dealers Louis and Hendrik Trip, by architect Justus Vingboons, who behind a single facade built two houses.

In 1812, Het Koninklijk Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde en Schoone Kunsten, established by King Louis Napoleon in 1808, moved into the house. After 1815, when the Netherlands were ruled by King William I, the name was changed to Het Koninklijk-Nederlands Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde en Schoone Kunsten, the predecessor of the Rijksmuseum. The famous painting De Nachtwacht by Rembrandt hung there until it was moved to the new Rijksmuseum in 1885. The present box probably was ordered by someone connected to, or was a gift intended for, the institute.