Carved.

? donated by the artist to Carel Adolph Lion Cachet (1864-1945), Amsterdam, c. 1912;¹¹F. Scholten, ‘Lambertus Zijl, Springbok, Model for a Door Handle, Amsterdam, c. 1906-10, in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam 2026. his son, Dr C. Lion Cachet; from whom, acquired by the museum, 1973

Object number: BK-1973-64

In 1898, the leading Amsterdam art dealer E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., located on the Rokin, expanded its operations with the addition of a department of furniture and interior furnishings, designed in contemporary style.²²F. Heijbroek, Portret van een kunsthandel: De firma Van Wisselingh en zijn compagnons 1838-heden, Zwolle 1999. The move was likely the initiative of three artists – G. W. Dijsselhof, T.W. Nieuwenhuis and C.A. Lion Cachet – all with existing business and personal ties to the gallery.³³H. Olyslager and M. Wardenaar, ‘Van Wisseling en Co.: Een meubelwerkplaats voor drie kunstenaars, 1898-1924’, Ons Amsterdam 36 (1984) no. 2, pp. 47-50. The three men introduced a ‘total concept’ approach to home remodelling that entailed a single unifying style applied to the furniture, interior furnishings and the individual components of a room or home, as well custom-made using luxury materials. The approach implied that potential clientele and patrons would solely be limited to individuals of ample financial means.

One of the first clients was the affluent Amsterdam couple Th.G. Dentz van Schaick and Ch.J. Dentz van Schaick-Marloff – he a solicitor and public prosecutor, she a daughter from a Scandinavian family – who wished to renovate the interior of their monumental home at Frederiksplein 48 and 50, built in 1869. The project involved converting the interior of this two-building structure into a single residence, thereby involving a full contemporary remodelling. Nieuwenhuis was charged with the renovation of no. 48, Lion Cachet with no. 50. For the decorative interior woodcarving, Lion Cachet approached his friend and like-minded artist, the sculptor Lambertus Zijl (1866-1947).⁴⁴For the history of this project, see M. Broekhuis et al., Lambertus Zijl 1866-1947, Zwolle 1990, pp. 83-89. What began in 1899 as the modernization of several rooms eventually grew into a grand-scale project finally completed in 1913. Prior to this time, respectively in 1903 and 1906, Dijsselhof and Lion Cachet had severed their ties with Van Wisselingh. Lion Cachet and Zijl nevertheless remained involved in the project at least until the end of 1911, as recorded in the latter’s journal entries.⁵⁵M. Broekhuis et al., Lambertus Zijl 1866-1947, Zwolle 1990, p. 86.

By the time he became involved in the Dentz van Schaick project, Zijl had already made a name for himself with his innovative architectural sculpture designs for a number of building projects overseen by the architect H.P. Berlage: the office of the Dutch life insurance company ‘De Algemeene’ on the Damrak in Amsterdam (1892-1894), followed by two offices of ‘De Nederlanden van 1845’, in Amsterdam and The Hague (1894-1896).⁶⁶For Zijl’s artistic career, see, for instance: A. Pit, ‘Der Holländische Bildhauer Zijl’, in Dekorative Kunst: Illustrierte Zeitschrift für angewandte Kunst 1 (1897), pp. 72-74; Th. van Reijn in Op de hoogte 24 (1927), pp. 222-25 and idem, Prisma der kunsten 1 (1936, Aug./Sept.), pp. 177-82; R.W.P. de Vries Jr, Lambertus Zijl, Bussum, 1946; A.M. Hammacher, Beeldhouwkunst van deze eeuw en een schets van haar ontwikkeling in de negentiende eeuw, Amsterdam, 1955, pp. 18-22; M. Broekhuis, ‘Ideologie in steen’, in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 34 (1983), pp. 195-226; M. Broekhuis et al., Lambertus Zijl 1866-1947, Zwolle 1990; Y. Koopmans, Muurvast & gebeiteld: Beeldhouwkunst in de bouw 1840-1940, Rotterdam 1997, esp. pp. 342-44. Zijl’s prominent role in the Amsterdam stock exchange building on the Damrak (1898-1903) – marking the apex of his collaboration with Berlage – led to the realization of more figurative works of architectural sculpture on a more monumental scale, all inspired by the ideas of the Dutch poet Albert Verwey.⁷⁷M. Broekhuis, ‘Ideologie in steen’, in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 34 (1983), pp. 195-226. In his autonomous sculpture, Zijl had impressionist leanings. In his applied work, however, he developed a style derived from a concise, geometrical reduction of form, well suited to Berlage’s robust and austere architectural design.

Zijl applied the same bold, lightly abstracted style in his work for the Dentz van Schaik house. He and Lion Cachet were charged with the rooms on the bel-étage, the second and third floors, and the stairwells, all executed in tropical and indigenous wood types and ornamented with brass and ivory. Zijl’s contribution consisted of decorative animal friezes for the furniture and wainscoting, woodcarvings for the stairwells and door handles.

The present walnut figure of a springbok is Zijl’s casting model for the brass door handles of the salon on the second floor – a clear example of the sculptor’s ‘applied sculpture’ style, characterized by block-like volumes. It also illustrates how Zijl – a keen observer of nature – succeeded in capturing the animal’s distinctive leaping stance, transforming it into the functional, decoratively arched form of a door handle. The model was in all probability carved between 1906 and 1910 as a detailed description of the house’s interior by the Dutch architect Gratama from the latter year demonstrates.⁸⁸J. Gratama, ‘Een interieur in het huis van mr. Th. G. Dentz van Schaick te Amsterdam: Ontwerp van C.A. Lion Cachet’, Onze Kunst 17 (1910), pp. 158-70. The wood-carved Springbok originates from Lion Cachet’s son, who inherited it from his father, with Zijl most likely having given it to his business partner as a gift.

During the Second World War, the Dentz van Schaick house served as the headquarters of the German Luftwaffe. During this period, the original interior sustained heavy damage. From 1947 on, the house served as the offices of British Petroleum. In 1959, the building was torn down and replaced with a modern office building. At this time, all that remained of the interior was dispersed among various departments of the Dutch government.⁹⁹M. Broekhuis et al., Lambertus Zijl 1866-1947, Zwolle 1990, pp. 88-89. Elements of the salon were reinstalled in the Fentener van Vlissingen building (Maliebaan, Utrecht), including the brass door handles cast from Zijl’s springbok.

Frits Scholten, 2026

W. Halsema-Kubes, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 21 (1973), pp. 195, 199, fig. 10; M. Broekhuis et al., Lambertus Zijl 1866-1947, Zwolle 1990, p. 84 and fig. 113; J.D. van Dam and J.J. Heij, Art Nouveau in het Rijksmuseum, exh. cat. Laren (Singer Museum) 2010, pp. 44-45 and fig. 4

F. Scholten, 2026, 'Lambertus Zijl, Springbok, Model for a Door Handle, Amsterdam, c. 1906 - c. 1910', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20057538