Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
dress individual bricks and the steenschaaf to
in situ
finish enrichment in their
native manner. A good example of the latter is Pieter's Kirk Gracht (1620)
which displays gauged work for ashlar, as well as handsome segmental arches
finished
in situ
with the steenschaaf. The large-span semi-circular arch to the
church at 64, Breestraats (1635), has also been neatly finished
in situ
with
a steenschaaf and following neatly the curve of the arch (Fig. 41).
Figure 41
A radial
'Steenschaafed' finish
to a splayed arch
face, 64, Breestraats,
Leiden, Netherlands,
1635.
The accurate cutting for an impressive hearth vault at Jean Postign's Hofge,
21, Kloksteeg (1685) displays again the inevitable interchange of skills between
bricklayers and stonemasons. Particularly noticeable is the finishing by rubbing
the brick smooth, with no signs of the use of the steenschaaf.
Observations in the regions of the Netherlands where gauged brickwork is
present, it is not executed in the buff-coloured brick, favoured by the Flemish,
but in orange/red fine textured bricks. It is noticeable that during the seven-
teenth century, a rubbed-smooth finish to the work largely replaces the earlier
Steenschaafed finish. This can be seen as a part of the overall development
of classical gauged work evolving from earlier Flemish practices as a direct
result of using clean-bodied Leiden, or similar, bricks and realising the greater
potential for easier post-fired shaping and rubbing a smooth finish. This is in
comparison to their harder Flemish counterparts, minimising the need for the
abrasive action of the steenschaaf. Hollstelle (1976, 58), however, appears to
be in conflict with the author's research when she states:
When specially shaped bricks with chamfered corners or mouldings were
required they were moulded in their final form in northern districts and in
