QUIRINGH VAN BREKELENKAM (Zwammerdam [?] near Leiden circa 1623 - Leiden 1669 [?] or after)
The Kannekijker (One who peers wistfully into the bottom of an empty jug)
signed and dated in the lower center on the edge of the table Quierijn . 1664
oil on panel
12 2/3 x 11 inches (32.4 x 28 cm.)
The Kannekijker (One who peers wistfully into the bottom of an empty jug)
A man looking forlorn as he peers into a jug. Not thrilled with what he is seeing, we can assume there is not much at the bottom. Our painting entitled the Kannenkijker on the surface, appears to show a lonely figure looking for more drink to possibly drown his sorrows. But, is this our 21st century take on an image? Are we plastering our modern attitudes on a subject that may have not been sad or solemn at all?
In Dutch art we see many images of drinking, whether it is a glass of wine rendered impeccably in a beautiful still life, a merry company with moral undertones or in this case, a kannenkijker. The term kannenkijker (translated directly as ‘jug watcher’) was often used in the 16th &17th century Dutch republic to refer to, well let’s say, a person who loves the drink. This may seem like an insult or at best– an unwanted accolade, but in the 17th century Netherlands, it may have been a compliment or even a term of endearment amongst friends.
Poor nutrition and water quality contributed heavily to copious amounts of drinking during the Dutch Golden Age. In the early part of the 17th century, it was estimated the Dutch drank on average 75 gallons of beer per person per year, and even had low alcohol beer for children. This total did not even include the wine the bourgeois class was drinking. Public drunkenness was not the taboo it is today. There were far worse things than being a drunk (like not paying the tax on the alcohol itself!) In fact, heavy drinking was often encouraged. Alcohol was poured for birthdays, christenings, weddings, and any other kind of festivity you could possibly imagine. In business and trade it was practically mandatory and often sealed a deal much like a signature. It may seem strange given the restrictiveness of the varying beliefs of the time, but drinking was often at the core of religious ceremonies too.
The kannenkijker himself made his way into art via the rederijkerskamers, translated as a chamber of rhetoric, for the literary and dramatic men of the city. Much like a guild, the group functioned as an entertainment and public relations vehicle for the town it represented. It also, like a guild, supported its members in good and bad times and held regular meetings often consisting of heavy drinking. Reputations varied from town to town but notoriously the rederijkers were one of the most boisterous and raucous of all these guild groups. Drinking to stimulate creativity was the idea behind the extreme consumption, with heavy drinking before a performance to relax the creative mind and, of course, after to celebrate their genius! The rederijkers knew how to have fun.
The guilds were the fraternities of the Dutch republic. The ‘frat bros’ of the 17th century. The rederijkers were that one fraternity that always went a bit too far, holding the biggest parties and likely getting the most out of hand, but all in all a fun-loving group who weren’t looking for trouble, but just loved life. Scholars suggest that, as a way to justify much of their disorderly behavior, the painters of the rederijkers began to paint these disorderly scenes, giving an everyday normalcy to them.
Painting in the 17th century was the only way to lay down memorial images, the self-portrait was the selfie of the time, the merry company often the party pictures and this – the kannenkijker is that one friend who always drank just a bit too much and ended up sitting alone in the corner. Everyone took a picture of him and laughed about it the next day. Everyone has a kannenkijker in their group of friends, or they used to!
18 May, 2022