Brief aan Frans Buffa en Zonen Possibly 1872 - 1876

Curator: I’m drawn to the immediacy of this piece; it feels less like studied art and more like a window into a lived moment. Editor: Precisely. Here we have "Brief aan Frans Buffa en Zonen," a letter, likely from between 1872 and 1876, crafted by Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate. It's pen on paper, ink forming the lines, currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. My first impression is one of fleeting intimacy—something akin to eavesdropping on a private thought. Curator: I love that—eavesdropping. It makes the illegible parts even more intriguing. All those swirls and flicks—the almost-calligraphy—it's less about perfect communication and more about the dance of expression. What do you see lurking in those strokes? Editor: Handwriting, especially ornate examples like this, served as a kind of personal branding back then. It suggested status and character. The sweeping flourishes and elegant script, it subtly conveys the writer's…authority. Also, the image shows HK at the top left. We see the double, interlocking "HK," and I read an assertion of identity—a watermark of self. Curator: Self-fashioning, even in a mundane letter. So, the medium becomes part of the message. It's not just about informing, it’s about performing. I’m so curious about who Buffa and Zonen were. Probably very established folks. Editor: Indeed. Letters, especially business letters of this era, often carried layers of cultural etiquette and social meaning lost on modern viewers. Now they are seen in museums, hinting at forgotten power structures. What the Dutch or French phrases? Are there patterns of linguistic symbols Ten Kate used? And what weight would it give the addressee if so? Curator: And isn't that the best kind of art, where a glimpse triggers so much possibility? A symbol really does echo through chambers in history. I wonder how many untold stories are just hidden like this? I'll never see a scrawled piece of writing the same way again! Editor: Nor will I.