Lotteries, Art Markets, and Visual Culture in the Low Countries, 15th-17th Centuries

390 Pages·2018·23.981 MB·English

by  Sophie Raux

Lotteries, Art Markets, and Visual Culture in the Low Countries,
15th–17th Centuries
Studies in the History of
Collecting & Art Markets
Editor in Chief
Christian Huemer (Belvedere Research Center, Vienna)
Editorial Board
Malcolm Baker (University of California, Riverside)
Ursula Frohne (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster)
Daniela Gallo (Université de Lorraine, Nancy)
Hans van Miegroet (Duke University, Durham)
Inge Reist (The Frick Collection, New York)
Adriana Turpin (Institut d’Etudes Supérieures des Arts, London)
Filip Vermeylen (Erasmus University, Rotterdam)
Volume 4
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hcam
Lotteries, Art Markets, and Visual
Culture in the Low Countries,
15th–17th Centuries
By
Sophie Raux
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Translation from French to English is made possible by the support of Fondation Custodia, Paris.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Raux, Sophie, author.
Title: Lotteries, art markets, and visual culture in the Low Countries,
 15th–17th centuries / by Sophie Raux.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2018. | Series: Studies in the history
 of collecting & art markets ; Volume 4 | Includes bibliographical
 references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017052532 (print) | LCCN 2017053008 (ebook) | ISBN
 9789004358812 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004353213 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Art—Economic aspects—Benelux countries—History. |
 Lotteries—Benelux countries—History. | Art—Collectors and
 collecting—Benelux countries—History. | Art and society—Benelux
 countries—History.
Classification: LCC N8600 (ebook) | LCC N8600 .R35 2018 (print) | DDC
 701/.03—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017052532
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2352-0485
isbn 978-90-04-35321-3 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-35881-2 (e-book)
Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense
and Hotei Publishing.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of Figures and Tables  xi
List of Abbreviations xviii
Introduction 1
1 Origin and Typology of Lotteries in the Low Countries 12
1 Historical and Historiographical Context 13
1.1 An Invention Linked to a Boom in Risk and Speculation 13
1.2 From the Burgundian Netherlands to Italy: Rapid Expansion
Across Urban Europe 16
1.3 Towards More Material Prizes 21
2 Lottery Typology in the Sixteenth-Century Netherlands 22
2.1 Public-Utility Lotteries Held by Civil or Religious Institutions 23
2.2 State Lotteries for the Common Good 25
2.3 Lotteries of Private Entrepreneurs for Commercial Ends 27
3 The Upsurge in Commercial Lotteries 28
3.1 “Secret” Closed-Circle Lotteries: The Abuses of the 1520s 28
3.2 Occasional Lotteries by Specialist Dealers: Tapestries, Paintings,
Alabasters, Jewelry 30
3.3 International Traders and Lottery Entrepreneurs 36
2 The Machinery of Success: Expert Valuation—Exhibition—Draw 41
1 Building Trust 41
1.1 A Transparent Procedure 41
1.2 Expert Valuation Procedures 44
2 Make Known, Make Seen: The Visual Means of Mediatization 54
2.1 Public Exhibitions 54
2.2 A Fanfare of Visual Communication 61
3 Theatralization: The Public Draw as Urban Spectacle 63
3 Visualizing the Material and Moral Stakes of Institutional Lotteries 73
1 Illustrated Posters: A Feature of the Visual Culture of the Low
Countries 75
1.1 From brieven van de lotinghe to loterijkaarten 75
1.2 Of German Origin? 75
1.3 Expressing the Hierarchy of Object Values Through Image and
Text 79
vi Contents
2 Exploiting the Image’s Power of Persuasion 81
2.1 The “Portrait of the Prizes” 81
2.2 Interaction between Iconicity and Textuality 86
2.3 Combining the Appeal to Good Intentions with the Lure of
Profit 93
3 Theatralization and Dramatization: The Human Impact 97
3.1 Isaac Claesz. van Swanenburgh’s Poster for the Leiden Lottery
(1596) 98
3.2 The Posters of Claes Jansz. Visscher: Playing with
Reduplication 106
3.3 Uses of the Poster as Image and the Poster as Object 111
4 Lottery Posters and Booklets: The Role of Print in Structuring the
Art Worlds 117
1 Lottery Posters in the United Provinces 117
1.1 Picturing Diversity, Novelty, and Luxury: The Lotteries of Hulst
(1659–1660) and Terschelling (1666) 117
1.2 The Victory of the Object: The Durgerdam Lottery Poster
(1688) 125
1.3 Demise of the Image: The Grootebroek Lottery Poster
(1694–1695) 134
1.4 Commercial Lottery Posters: The Importance of the Painter’s
Name 140
2 Booklets and Catalogues: New Tools of Mediation and
Encouragement to Gamble 150
2.1 Arent van Gorp’s Lottery in IJsselstein (Utrecht) in 1651 151
2.2 Henry van Soest’s Lottery at the Antwerp Stock Exchange
(1695) 155
2.3 The Primacy of Market Value and Novelty 166
3 A New Image of the Art Trade and Material Pleasure 169
3.1 A Model for Gersaint? 169
3.2 From Lottery Catalogue to Sales Catalogue 171
3.3 Lotteries and Material Culture 173
5 Commercial Lotteries in the Spanish Netherlands: Actors, Networks,
Risks, and Profits 175
1 Painter Claude Dorizi’s Lottery in Mechelen (1559–1560) 175
1.1 An Exceptional Lottery Permitted as an Exception 175
1.2 Paintings, Alabasters, Bronzes, and Mirrors: The Lures of the
Game 180
Contents vii
2 The Invention of Immediate-draw Itinerant Commercial
Lotteries 194
2.1 The Pioneer: Hans Goyvaerts 194
2.2 François Verbeelen, Painter to the Court: An Exceptional
Entrepreneur 201
2.3 Verbeelen, Van Onderdonck, and Goyvaerts: A Bitter Rivalry 203
3 Political-Economic Conflicts of Interest between Central Government
and Local Authorities 207
3.1 The Hostile Reactions of the Cities of Lille, Saint-Omer, Namur,
Ghent, and Mechelen 207
3.2 The Efforts of Verbeelen and his Associates in the Principality
of Liege 210
3.3 Verbeelen and the Archdukes’ Protection 213
4 Networks, Risks, and Profits 215
4.1 Were the Immediate-draw Commercial Lotteries Cost
Effective? 215
4.2 A Strong Collaborative Organization 219
4.3 Unexpected Developments in the Kingdom of France 221
6 At the Heart of the Commercial Lotteries 223
1 Abundance, Luxury, and Diversity 223
1.1 Lottery Inventories and the Hierarchy of Values 223
1.2 Ceremonial Silver: Value to be Trusted 227
2 New Images and New Luxuries 237
2.1 Van Onderdonck and the Predominance of Religious
Painting 237
2.2 The Growing Role of Secular Genres in Verbeelen’s Lotteries 241
2.3 “Crystal” Glassware, Porcelain, Musical Instruments 253
3 Sartorial Appearances and Domestic Items 262
3.1 Mirrors 263
3.2 Appearance Accessories 265
7 The Mirage of Art and Wealth: The Lottery’s Economic, Social, and
Cultural Impacts 272
1 A Pseudo-Mechanism for Distributing Luck Fairly and
Democratically 273
1.1 Who Could Try Their Luck? 273
1.2 Behavioral and Social Disorders 276
1.3 An Economy of Random Choice 279
viii Contents
2 Lotteries and Local Trade. Ripple Effect or Competition? 281
2.1 Lotteries and Fairs, a Difficult Cohabitation 281
2.2 Visibility and Accessibility 284
3 From the Material Temptation of the Lottery Displays to Moral
Reflections on Vanity and Fortune: The Watershed Years of
1590–1610 288
Conclusion 307
Appendix 313
Bibliography 332
Index of Names 363
Index of Places 367
Acknowledgements
As I bring several years of research to a close, I would like to express my sincer-
est thanks to all those who have helped in the preparation of this book.
My thinking about the lotteries as an art history research topic took shape
within the framework of the National Research Agency program, Marchés de
l’art en Europe (1400–1800): émergence, développement, réseaux, which I ran
from 2008 to 2012. It was constantly enriched by stimulating discussions with
the members of the team, and particularly with Koenraad Brosens, Neil De
Marchi, Natalia Gozzano, Charlotte Guichard, Christian Huemer, Dries Lyna,
Patrick Michel, Mickaël Szanto, Hans J. Van Miegroet, and Filip Vermeylen.
I am genuinely grateful to each one of them for their attention and their help-
ful advice.
I must also say that it was an absolute joy to work in the magnificent and
inspiring setting of the Zilvermuseum Sterckshof in Deurne, near Antwerp.
The wealth of documentation and the welcome afforded by Wim Nys and his
co-workers were instrumental in helping me pursue my research. I would like
to thank Erika Basso, Anne-Marie Claessens-Peré, and Ann Labis for making
themselves available and for their generosity.
I was also warmly welcomed and ably assisted at the Brussels Lottery
Museum where Annemie Buffels and Jeroen Buntinx spared no effort to en-
able me to benefit from the riches of their collections. My deepest thanks go
to them both.
I am grateful too to everyone who contributed with discussions, expertise,
and encouragement to the writing of this book, particularly Bruno Blondé,
Christine Breugelmans, Natacha Coquery, Christine Duvauchelle, Peter
Fuhring, Florence Gétreau, Thierry Ghys, Georges Gorce, Catherine Jami,
Jeffrey Hawkins, Andrew Morall, Jeroen Puttevils, Fred Smith, Cécile Tainturier,
Michel Vangheluwe, and Pascale Vandervellen.
Transcribing Old Dutch archives when I am no expert in the language as it is
used today was a challenge I was able to meet thanks to the input of Carolien
de Staelen, Arnout Janssens, and Matthias Meirlaen. They too have my deepest
thanks.
I would also like to express my heart-felt gratitude to my colleagues in
Lille—Gil Bartholeyns, Jean-Paul Deremble, Alain Deremetz, Jerôme Jambu,
Isabelle Paresys, Arnaud Timbert, and Jean Voets, for their encouragement and
their assistance in specialist areas as wide-ranging as Latin translation, math-
ematical probability, sixteenth century paleography, and the monetary history
of the Low Countries.