{"id":24558,"date":"2018-06-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inter-antiquariaat.nl\/dev-en\/antiek\/uncategorized\/volksprent-vrijstersboom-1680\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:53:18","slug":"17th-century-suitors-tree-print-1680","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/inter-antiquariaat.nl\/en\/antiques\/miscellaneous\/miscellaneous-before-1880\/17th-century-suitors-tree-print-1680\/","title":{"rendered":"Suitors’ Tree – Gerrit van Schagen, c. 1680"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE SUITORS\u2019 TREE, C. 1680<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDit zyn de peeren die vrysters begeeren<\/strong><\/em>\u201d [These are the pears that maidens desire], copper engraving published in Amsterdam by Gerrit van Schagen<\/strong>, c. 1680<\/strong>. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 27 \u00d7 24 cm.<\/p>\n

This humorous seventeenth-century popular print presents the search for a suitable marriage partner as a tree laden with ripe fruit. Yet instead of pears growing among its branches, the tree bears a colourful assortment of young men: the \u2018peeren<\/em>\u2019 or \u2018pears\u2019 for whom the unmarried women, or “vrijsters<\/em>“, according to the caption, so ardently long.<\/p>\n

High in the crown, the prospective suitors sit closely packed together. Some play the violin, lute, flute and bass viol, while others read, write or measure a globe with a pair of dividers. The tree thus offers an entire selection of men from which to choose. At the left, Cupid<\/a> flies among the branches with his bow drawn, leaving little doubt as to the nature of this human fruit waiting to be plucked.<\/p>\n

Beneath the tree, a group of young women has gathered. They look upwards, point towards the men and inspect the available selection. One woman waters the tree, while another works among its roots with a tool. The scene thus turns the marriage market into a playful visual metaphor: the men hang like fruit from the branches, while the women below wait for the opportunity to \u2018pick\u2019 one.<\/p>\n

The accompanying verse simultaneously pokes fun at female modesty and reticence:<\/p>\n

Vrysters, schoon je schijnt te veynsen<\/em>
Dat geen vryer u en dient,<\/em>
Hier nochtans streckt al u peynsen<\/em>
Hier is uwes herten vriendt.<\/em>
Hier toe streckt al uw begeeren;<\/em>
En hy mist die \u2019t niet gelooft:<\/em>
Want al die den man ontbeeren,<\/em>
Dat zyn Lyven zonder Hooft.<\/em><\/p>\n

In other words: however much unmarried women may pretend that they have no need of a man, all their thoughts and desires ultimately turn towards finding a suitor. The final lines give the joke a moralising, characteristically seventeenth-century punchline: a woman without a husband is compared to a \u2018body without a head\u2019.<\/p>\n

Price: Euro 950 (incl. frame)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE SUITORS\u2019 TREE, C. 1680 \u201cDit zyn de peeren die vrysters begeeren\u201d [These are the pears that maidens desire], copper engraving published in Amsterdam by Gerrit van Schagen, c. 1680. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 27 \u00d7 24 cm. This humorous seventeenth-century popular print presents the search for a suitable marriage partner as a […]\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1404,1410],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-24558","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-schagen-gerrit-van","product_cat-miscellaneous","product_cat-miscellaneous-before-1880","first","instock","sold-individually","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\nSuitors\u2019 Tree \u2013 17th-Century Dutch Print, c. 1680<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"17th-century Dutch print of the Suitors\u2019 Tree, c. 1680, published by Gerrit van Schagen. 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