Ice skating Amsterdam – Abraham Zeeman, 1752

“Amstels Wintervreugd – Divertissement de l’Hiver sur l’Amstel” [Winter Pleasures on the Amstel], etching and engraving made by Abraham Zeeman in 1752. Signed and dated in the plate at lower left “A. Zeeman inv. del. et fecit 1752”. Size: 44.4 × 59.9 cm.

This lively winter scene depicts the frozen Buiten-Amstel (Outer Amstel) near Amsterdam, looking north towards the Hogesluis bridge. The river has been transformed into an enormous skating rink, where hundreds of Amsterdam residents are enjoying themselves. Houses, inns and taverns line both banks. On the left is the Amsteldijk, with the De Pauwentuin inn (near the present-day beginning of Ceintuurbaan), while on the right is the Weesperzijde, with the Lokhorst and De IJsbreker inns. In the distance rise the city’s towers and windmills.

Abraham Zeeman (1695–1754) has depicted the winter festivities in extraordinary detail. Everywhere people are skating, strolling and riding in sleighs. Elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen are driven across the ice in horse-drawn sleighs, while others make their way on skates. Some glide gracefully past, but not everyone manages to stay on their feet. People slip, fall or help one another up. Children play among the adults, a dog runs across the ice, and here and there groups of spectators gather to watch the skaters’ antics.

On the right is a koek-en-zopie stall, selling refreshments to skaters, beside which a duck hunter is fastening on his skates. Carriages travel along the riverbanks, which are just as bustling with activity. The hundreds of figures and countless small incidents lend the scene a festive atmosphere.

During severe winters in the eighteenth century, the frozen Amstel became an important gathering place for the people of Amsterdam. The river, normally a busy shipping route, then provided space for skaters, sleighs, ice yachts, traders and curious spectators. Rich and poor, young and old came together to enjoy the wintry conditions. For the inns and taverns along the riverbanks, such days brought a flourishing trade.

This impressive and exceptionally scarce engraving offers a remarkably detailed panorama of winter life on the frozen Amstel. Examples rarely appear on the market.