Schenkkan met aap als handvat 1657

This is an undated engraving by Françoise Bouzonnet, depicting a ewer with a monkey for a handle. Bouzonnet was a French artist working in the second half of the 17th century, a period when France was consolidating its power under Louis XIV and establishing cultural institutions like the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Engravings like this circulated widely and played a crucial role in disseminating artistic styles. The ewer itself features grotesque masks, winged figures, and a handle formed by an exotic monkey. The monkey connects the artwork to France's colonial ambitions in this period: monkeys came from far-off lands and were considered luxury items. The ewer blends classical and exotic motifs and exemplifies the period's fascination with display and luxury. The meaning of this artwork is bound up in the social and institutional context in which it was made, and to understand it better, historians might use sources such as period inventories, travel accounts, and design books.