Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Two of these designs were reproduced several times in De Waag, St Anthienspoort,
Amsterdam, Netherlands, over a century earlier.
Amersfoort
In the church tower of Onze Liewe Vrouwetoren in Amersfoort (1440-1500)
there are three apprentices gildeproeven of gauged brickwork contemporary
with those of De Waag. An arched niche, a splayed elliptical blind bullseye
with cut-moulded reveals, and a double hearth vault ( joining to form a shelf ),
broadly similar to the one in Leiden as mentioned above. This is also delight-
ful gauged brickwork and executed to a high standard, but is rather more pro-
vincial in quality than the Amsterdam masterpieces.
Surprisingly, the use of this exquisite level of gauged brickwork for enrichments
on Dutch properties, with some exceptions, appears largely restricted to use on
half-bonded flat arches, and one is disappointed not to see anything matching
the work of De Waag. Clearly even in the wealthy city of Amsterdam where they
had perfected the skill, gauged work did not establish itself as a popular fashion.
Perhaps this is due to the legendary puritanical austerity of the Protestant Dutch,
compared to flamboyant Catholic Flanders, or simply that the high degree of
accuracy and quality of their standard face brickwork was deemed sufficient for
a premier elevation. Of course there are exceptions, and although not a seven-
teenth building, the very fine gauged work to the façade of 8, Hofplein, or 'Van
der Perrehuis' (1765) in Middleburg, is particularly worthy of study.
Built as a grand home for a wealthy merchant of that name, the design
encompasses two huge curved wing walls on either end, incorporating large
gateways to the rear coach houses and stables, that lead gracefully to the central
straight section, containing the main entrance. The entire façade is of gauged
work, with ashlared orange-red rubbing bricks laid in English bond, and incorp-
orating segmental arches and large semi-elliptical bullseye arches for the win-
dow openings with large semi-elliptical arches bridging the two carriageways.
The jambs to the openings on the section of the curved walls, and therefore the
'springing' of those arches are by necessity splayed and the arch faces curved on
plan as well as on elevation; what is termed in the craft 'circle-on-circle' work.
The bricks, laid with joints of 1.5 mm, with perpends strictly maintained and to
an eight course gauge of 324 mm, have been rubbed smooth to finish, revealing
slight inclusions in their body. In a few areas joints are still coloured as a result
of rubbing the brick dust into the fresh mortar during finishing.
Dutch Bricklayers in Post-Restoration London
Taking into account the dramatic improvement in the character and quality
of post-fired worked brickwork that results in the production of Dutch-styled
