Image Credit: Courtesy Collection Zebregs&Röell, Amsterdam (inv.no. 2023.7.6.11.38)
Hi-res Image: https://www.robilantvoena.com/art-work/the-anneken-jans-chest?exhibition=ahead-her-time
A rare surviving original 17th-century piece of furniture used by early settlers in New Netherland, this teak and American walnut chest with iron and brass mounts, was owned by the Dutch-Norwegian settler Anneken/Annetje Jans (Bogardus) (Norway, Fleckerøy, Vest Agder 1604/1605- New Amsterdam, New Netherland, 1663). The eye-catching wooden lockplate is designed in the then fashionable Dutch “kwab” (lobe) or auricular style. Interestingly, the brass of the lock itself originates from a Swedish copper mine, reflecting the exchange and wide reach of materials and goods along 17th-century trade routes.
The lock bears the inscription “Anneken Jans. B A 1633:” B likely stands for Beverwijck (today Albany), where Anneken lived in the year (anno) 1633; the life of the chest and its owner seem intricately interwoven. At a young age Anneken and her family moved from Norway to Amsterdam where she married Roeloff Jansz (1601/1602-1637), a Norwegian seaman. In 1630, as one of the very first Dutch settlers Anneken and Roeloff sailed to New Netherland to work for Kiliaen van Rensselaer, governor of the West India Company, who owned vast lands in present-day Albany and Rensselaer counties.
In 1630 Anneken, Roeloff and their three daughters, together with her mother Tryntje Jonas (later a well-known midwife in New Amsterdam) embarked for New Netherland and settled in the small village of Beverwijck, where the family interacted daily with local Native Americans. In 1634 the family moved to New Amsterdam at which point the chest was a highly valuable object for safely transferring important household items to the city.
Their oldest daughter Sara (married with Hans Kierstede), became a translator for Peter Stuyvesant, and had a key role in all negotiations with the Native Americans. Moreover, as the oldest child, Sara likely inherited this impressive chest and cherished it as a true family heirloom. Just like her mother, Sara would have used this chest to keep precious household goods, from bedlinens to embroidered lace and silver objects.
Reference:
Title: chest
Date: ca. 1633
Materials: Teak (Tectona grandis) and American Walnut (Juglans nigra) coffer with iron and brass mounts
Dimensions: 19 3/8 x 44 1/8 x 18 3/8 inch (49.2 x 112 x 46.8 cm)
Location: Collection Zebregs&Röell, Amsterdam
For further reading: https://zebregsroell.com/product/anneken-jans-bogardius-chest
