Album with 116 drawings, mainly portraits, made on Ceylon. In the drawing book of Esaias Boursse, a page is attached at the front with the text 'I have written this ticking check on Silon and sold my brother to my contentement, 1 January 1671 '. The term 'drawing book' can also be understood to mean a separate collection of drawings. Most of the drawings were made in Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was called until 1972, while only a few were made during his short stay at the Cape of Good Hope). The bound ‘Tijkenboeck’ consists of twenty unequal quires, a number of which are incomplete. The drawing book
Album with 116 drawings, mainly portraits, made on Ceylon. In the drawing book of Esaias Boursse, a page is attached at the front with the text 'I have written this ticking check on Silon and sold my brother to my contentement, 1 January 1671 '. The term 'drawing book' can also be understood to mean a separate collection of drawings. Most of the drawings were made in Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was called until 1972, while only a few were made during his short stay at the Cape of Good Hope). The bound ‘Tijkenboeck’ consists of twenty unequal quires, a number of which are incomplete. The drawing book now contains 116 sheets, but at least 34 sheets have been cut out earlier. Whether these have also contained drawings and where these sheets have gone, is unclear - perhaps they will pop up again. The two watermarks of the paper used by Boursse indicate that the material was most likely from the Netherlands. Boursse may have brought the double-fold sheets himself, but it is also possible that he received them from an employee of the VOC on his way there in Batavia or during his stay in Sri Lanka. In any case, it seems clear that he has cut the large sheets of approximately 44 x cm in length and folded the two leaf parts in such a way that he could easily get to work with them outside. When binding, the date of which is unknown, the sheets are trimmed, so that in a number of cases the drawings are no longer complete. Perhaps the bundle was in the hands of a child of a later owner, because we see in a few awkward sketches and added words. The 'Tijkenboeck' was not postponed after binding, the numbering of the sheets is of a fairly recent date, Sri Lanka, Cape of Good Hope, Dutch East India Company, Esaias Boursse, 1662 - 1670, paper, parchment (animal material), silk, chalk, graphite (mineral), brush, h 16 cm × w cm × t cm
Size: 6402px × 4422px
Location:
Photo credit: © Artokoloro / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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