The Wonder of the Senses
[FIVE SENSES.]
No. 80. De almagtige opperheer schonk aan zyn beeld vyf zinnen, gelukkig die hier niets dan in Gods vrees beginnen. Amsterdam, heirs of the widow of Jacobus van Egmont, [c. 1800].
Printed broadside on paper (c. 415 x 290 mm), large woodcut (c. 330 x 265 mm) with five roundels, each depicting a sense with letterpress caption below, the surrounding border incorporating four animals, one line of text at head, 35 lines in four columns at foot with imprint below, some crude hand-colouring to woodcut; some creasing from folding, a few small marginal tears, some light damp-staining; a good uncut copy.
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No. 80. De almagtige opperheer schonk aan zyn beeld vyf zinnen, gelukkig die hier niets dan in Gods vrees beginnen.
Very rare popular print depicting the five senses, issued by the heirs of the Amsterdam printer Marretje Valintgoet.
In the striking woodcut, each sense is represented by a well-dressed gentleman variously playing a trumpet (hearing); sniffing a flower pulled from a vase (smell); smoking a pipe, with a bottle and a glass before him, and a hand resting upon his stomach (taste); being bitten by a songbird released from its cage (touch); and reading from a book with pince-nez (sight).
The sets of verses below express the wonder of each sense as bestowed upon humankind by God, whose name features prominently in the open book held by ‘Het Gezigt’. The verses for sight, for example, read: ‘No person is ever born more destitute – even if they lack the senses of taste, hearing, touch, and smell, or even speech itself – than he who may never behold the beautiful vault of heaven with their own eyes, or see God’s power reflected therein’ (trans.).
The van Egmont printing firm was established by Jacobus van Egmont (c. 1686–1724) in 1710 on Amsterdam’s Reguliers Breestraat, and was managed by his wife, Marretje Valintgoet, and their son until 1761, after which time the business was held by ‘the heirs of the widow van Egmont’ until 1804. The firm specialised in entertaining and educational prints and booklets.
No copies traced on OCLC or STCN. The Rijksmuseum holds a version with different letterpress.