D2573. Polychrome Model of a Cradle

Delft, circa 1770

The wicker cradle with a yellow open trelliswork hood at the head, the baby seated inside, wearing a manganese cap, and blue robe with sleeves revealing her hands holding the cradle, and a green coverlet.

DIMENSIONS
Length: 14 cm. ( 5.5 in.)

PROVENANCE
The Van der Vorm Collection, The Netherlands

NOTE
The yellow color of the cradle represents wicker, the perfect material to create cozy baskets. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century not only cradles as represented in this miniature model were produced from wickerwork, but also other furnishings for the nursery room were made of the bendable willow twigs. For example, fire baskets in which a bucket with hot coals could be placed, that functioned both as a heat source and to dry the wet baby clothes. Further, the nursing mother was seated on the floor in front of the fireplace in a bakermat, a flat basket with low edges at the side and a high back. She could comfortably take care of the new born and change him or her on her lap. The cradles would have had a cloth over the hood, to protect the child from the cold and draft. When raised on wooden rockers, it could be moved back and forth by the mother using an attached rope, a so-called wiegekoord.

Available