Twee wapenschilden

Curator: This intriguing piece, housed here at the Rijksmuseum, is titled "Twee wapenschilden," or "Two Coats of Arms," created around the 1660s by Gesina ter Borch. She worked with pen, ink, and watercolor on paper. Editor: They're quaint, in a way. It strikes me how intimate and miniature they feel, yet they represent power structures of lineage. Is that lion baring its teeth or trying to lick something off its paw? Curator: These arms are fascinating visual declarations. In the Dutch Republic, heraldry became entwined with civic identity, so this drawing underscores family allegiances, particularly for women through marriage and inheritance. Gesina came from a very prominent family so its interesting she focused on rendering the imagery of status itself. Editor: Do we know whose arms these specifically are, and what they might signify beyond pure lineage? The one on the left with the rampant lion dominates in size and confidence! The other almost seems crowded, divided into quarters with less potent symbols – crescents, spots... heads? Curator: The single coat of arms displays a lion associated with a powerful family, yes, emphasizing valor and leadership, while the second, smaller shield is divided quarterly with the ter Borch family name mentioned alongside others, most likely documenting Gesina’s lineage to four noble families – Bentheim, Blanckensteijn, and Bijlin. I think the other items on this heraldry include the “balls” and those certainly are, perhaps, disembodied heads! Editor: It speaks volumes about the socio-political value placed on bloodlines. Considering the period, can we look at this piece as perhaps something of a commentary on aristocratic self-fashioning in a burgeoning bourgeois society? To literally ‘draw’ these connections highlights their importance, or maybe underscores their artificiality? Curator: Absolutely. Gesina would’ve understood those nuances completely. Think of the intense negotiations around marriage contracts at this time! Lineage wasn't just about social status. Guilds and public offices also had specific heraldic emblems, intertwining lineage, citizenship and belonging. I agree— it can be interpreted both ways! Editor: Knowing all of that gives even more dimension to her craft. These emblems transcend simple labels; they materialize her era’s values, captured through strokes of watercolour and pen. Curator: Indeed, an artist drawing family trees provides more complexity than static displays of inherited symbols alone, reflecting cultural identities.