FISH MARKET IN AMSTERDAM
Etching and aquatint after a drawing by Thomas Rowlandson, published by Rudolph Ackermann in 1797. With original hand colouring. Size: 41 x 54 cm.
In 18th century Amsterdam there was a fish market at the end of the Damrak (the canal from the IJ to the Dam square) on the edge of the Dam square. In this picturesque scene there are fishmongers in a dozen boats busy with their baskets and nets. A jetty leads to the actual market. Larger boats are moored on the other side of the water, where they unload their goods to be weighed in the so called ‘weigh house’ that stood in the middle of the Dam square. After weighing the goods were distributed through the city, there are horses with carriages (without wheels) waiting for their loads. Behind it there is the famous Amsterdam town hall (now royal palace) one of the 17th century wonders of the world. (The weigh house was demolished by king Lodewijk Napoleon in 1808 because it obstructed his view from the palace.)
This rare (!!) view of Amsterdam is different than most other views. The scene is more natural, the city is not so perfect, even a bit dirty, the buildings seem to be subject to some decay and figures are like charicatures, a genre with which Thomas Rowlandson (1756 -1827) would become famous. With this view of Amsterdam Rowlandson made good representation of urban life in a time Amsterdam was going through a deep economic recession.
The fish maket had to make way for the new Amsterdam stock exchange which was built there in the 1840s. Today the Bijenkorf department store stands on this location.
Price: Euro 2.950,- (incl. incl. frame)
