Landing and back room

16 Landing (portaaltje)

Making Maria's inventory, the notaries listed on page 32v (right; click to enlarge) the only two household goods on the landing.

A hatstand (kapstokje)

A chair

17 Back room (achterkamer)

Dimensions

length: xx m (xx feet)

width: xx m (xx feet)

size: xx square meters (xx square feet)

This back room would have been Maria's. It did not have a hearth, but the chimney from the kitchen hearth below helped to keep it warm. One or probably two windows looked over the courtyard.

This back room had only chamber pot in the inventory, so perhaps Maria slept there even after her father died and left the only free-standing bed unused. The inventory after her death lists only one bed, in the front room. Maria may well have slept in a built-in bed, a sleeping compartment, also called a box-bed or closed bed. The 1658 painting on the right by Pieter de Hooch shows such a bed.

Frans van Helden, who owned the house before Leeuwenhoek did, had eight underage children when he died, three girls and four boys as well as an infant son. The floorplan above shows three sleeping compartments in this room. Young Leeuwenhoek, planning to have a family, would not have removed them, at least until he was sure he wasn't going to have any more children. Because they were functional as storage areas, perhaps they were not removed.

The room had four chairs, a couple of hat stands, and a couple of baskets. Over a dozen pieces of Delftware were also in the room, including platters and bowl, some damaged. The room also had four storage chests of various sizes containing clothing and fabric. Three were brought to that room just for the inventory. The walls had five paintings, one embroidered, and five prints in frames.

The room also had a small barrel and up to a dozen bottles. Three of the bottles contained animals: serpents, lizards, and caterpillars. Her father had dissected and closely examined all three of those types of animals.

Making Maria's inventory, the notaries listed these household goods in the back room on page 32v (right; click to enlarge).

A chest (kist) with a cloth (kleedje) and napkin (servet) on it

A mirror (spiegel), 2 chairs (stoelen)

2 polished chairs

1 covered chamber pot enclosed in a wooden stool (stilletje)

1 hat stand (kapstokje)

1 polished ditto

1 Delft blue set (Delfs stel) of 4 pieces, damaged

2 Delft blue platters (Delfse schootels), large and small

2 ditto rinsing bowls (spoel kommenen)

1 Delft blue set of 3 pieces

1 clothing basket (kleermande) - see De Hooch painting above right

A painting being a seashore (zeestrandje)

A ditto with horses etc.

A stone (steene) painting ??

An embroidered painting (geborduurd schilderij) with glass in front of it

A painting with fruit (vrughten)

5 prints in frames (prentjes in lijsten)

1 bottle with little serpents (slangetjes)

1 ditto with lizards (hagadissen)

1 ditto with caterpillars (duizendbeenen)

3 large bottles

1 small barrel (tonnetje)

1 damborretje ?? -- dambord = checkboard. bennetje = flat basket. If bonnetje, it would be in clothing.

1 basket (mande) with some bottles

Some Delft earthenware (Delfs aardewerk)

Some old frames and junk (oude lijsten en rommelingh)

A large polished chest of drawers (kas), therein some cushions, blankets, as others brought here (hier voor gebracht)

A ditto smaller, therein some clothing, etc, brought up here (hier boven gebracht)

A ditto yet smaller, therein some linen and woolen goods brought up here
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