Bedcover or wall hanging (palampore), 1650-1700

Unidentified

Cotton, linen, paint; New-York Historical Society, 1938.1

A special exhibition in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage and the legacy of Dutch culture in New York.

In 1696 the possessions of a Dutch woman living in Flatbush, Brooklyn were inventoried. This inventory is currently the basis of an exhibition that examines both colonial life in New York and the personal taste of a not-so-average immigrant woman. Born in Amsterdam in 1649, Margrieta spent several years at the other end of the Dutch colonial world in the Far East, primarily in Malacca (present day Malaysia) before returning to The Netherlands with her minister husband Rudolphus. In 1686, Margrieta and her family crossed the Atlantic to settle in Flatbush, where Rudolphus was minister of the Dutch Reform Church, and where she opened a textile shop having brought with them an astonishing array of Eastern and European goods.

This exhibition is organized in five sections, each delineating a distinct theme. The exhibition first examines the inventory as a document of historical research and curatorial practice. A digital film features an interview with renowned historian Natalie Zemon Davis in which she considers the various challenges confronting historians who use inventories for research purposes as well as the role of women in the seventeenth century.

Next, in a section called "Trading Places", the exhibition examines the network of Dutch trading colonies in the East, particularly Malacca and Batavia (present day Jakarta, Indonesia). These are locations where Margrieta and her relatives lived, and where she may have obtained some of the goods cited in the inventory. Of particular interest is the way in which Margrieta's life parallels the history of the Netherlands during the 17th century; when an ever-expanding network of global trade and exchange fostered an expansion of wealth and culture amongst the Dutch.

"Dutch New York" considers the history of the Dutch colony and the continuing strength and persistence of Dutch culture under English rule. When Margrieta van Varick arrived in 1686, New Netherland had already been New York for over two decades. The antagonisms toward the English that culminated in the Leisler Rebellion and the realities of how the Dutch preserved a distinct way of life under English rule were central to the experience of Margrieta and her family, and thus provide an important frame of reference for the exhibition. Here visitors will come to understand the economic and religious life of the village of Flatbush, the central role of the Dutch Reformed Church, the connections with Native Americans, and the political implications of the Revolution of 1688 in England.

The fourth section of the exhibition is devoted to representations of the many goods described in the 1696 inventory: furniture, metalwork, textiles, costumes, and ceramics; and to an exploration of the reasons such goods would have been in the possession of a minister's wife and shopkeeper residing in Flatbush at that time.

In the final section, the exhibition addresses Margrieta van Varick's legacy by focusing on her descendants, including those for whom Varick Street in downtown Manhattan and Willets Point in Queens are named. Of particular importance was the marriage in 1711 of Margrieta's daughter Cornelia Varick to Peter van Dyck (1684-1750), the acclaimed American silversmith. This

Side chair, ca. 1680-1720 Unidentified Ebony and ebonized hardwoods, some details picked out in ivory; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 92.DA.24.

Still Life with Chinese Sugarbowl, Nautilus Cup, Glasses, and Fruit, ca. 1675-1700 After Willem Kalf (Dutch, 1619-1693) Oil on canvas; New-York Historical Society, 1858.15

familial connection to Van Dyck introduces the possibility that Margrieta's possessions may have had an impact on the later history of American decorative arts.

“Dutch New York” presents approximately 170 objects on loan from public and private collections in the United States and The Netherlands. One third of the objects come from the collection of the New-York Historical Society. Other lenders include the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Peabody Essex Museum, among others.

Dutch New York between East and West: The World of Margrieta Van Varick will be on display now through January 3, 2010 at the Bard Graduate Center, New York.

Box from a sirih set, ca. 1700 Gerrit Bijllevelt Silver; Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag