Johannes Lutma (I) (Emden 1584 – Amsterdam 1669)
He was a silver- and goldsmith and possibly an engraver whose Auricular style (‘Kwabstijl’) was briefly influential among a group of artists in the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Denmark.²²J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, XIX, p. 817; R. Baarsen, with a contribution by I. Castelijns van Beek, Kwab. Ornament als kunst in de eeuw van Rembrandt, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2018, pp. 89-157. Based on a drawing of a sculptor in the Rijksmuseum’s collection (inv. no. [RP-T-1953-9])(/en/collection/RP-T-1953-9/catalogue-entry), he was in Paris around 1615. He established himself in Amsterdam in 1621. Lutma’s younger brother, Joost Lutma (?-?), who was likewise a silversmith, also moved to Amsterdam and probably collaborated with him.³³J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, vol. XIX, p. 817; R. Baarsen and I. Castelijns van Beek, Kwab. Ornament als kunst in de eeuw van Rembrandt, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2018, pp. 91-92. Lutma married twice, to Mayken Roelants (?-?) in 1623 and to Saera de Bie (?-?) in 1638.⁴⁴A.D. de Vries, ‘Biografische aanteekeningen betreffende voornamelijk Amsterdamsche schilders, plaatsnijders, enz. en hunne verwanten (III)’, Oud-Holland 3 (1885), p. 226. By his first wife, he had two sons, Johannes Lutma II (c. 1624-1689) and Jacob Lutma (after 1624-1654), both of whom would later make engravings after their father’s designs. A well-known example is the design for the choir-screen in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam (inv. no. RP-P-1892-A-17495).⁵⁵F.W.H. Hollstein et al., Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, c. 1450-1700, 72 vols., Amsterdam and elsewhere 1947-2010, vol. XI (1955), no. 11. Lutma I was a friend of Rembrandt (1606-1669), who etched his portrait (inv. no. RP-P-OB-550).⁶⁶E. Hinterding and J. Rutgers, The New Hollstein Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt, 7 pts., Ouderkerk aan den IJssel 2013, no. 293-1(5). Lutma was buried in Amsterdam on 29 January 1669.⁷⁷J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, XIX, p. 817.

With the exception of the museum’s drawing of a sculptor, the few known drawings attributed to Lutma are all studies for his ornamental designs in silver and gold. These drawings reveal his thinking as a sculptor. The designs are quickly sketched in black chalk: he concentrated mostly on rendering a sense of volume and used highlights to convey the reflective qualities of the metal.⁸⁸R. Baarsen, with a contribution by I. Castelijns van Beek, Kwab. Ornament als kunst in de eeuw van Rembrandt, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2018, p. 104.

Carolyn Mensing, 2020

References
A.D. de Vries, ‘Biografische aanteekeningen betreffende voornamelijk Amsterdamsche schilders, plaatsnijders, enz. en hunne verwanten (III)’, Oud-Holland 3 (1885), p. 226; U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler: Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50, vol. XXIII (1929), p. 481; J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, vol. XIX, p. 817; R. Baarsen, with a contribution by I. Castelijns van Beek, Kwab. Ornament als kunst in de eeuw van Rembrandt, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2018, pp. 89-157; R. Baarsen, ‘Johannes Lutma de oude als tekenaar’, Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design 42 (2020), pp. 83-98; R. Baarsen, ‘Johannes Lutma the Elder: Goldsmith, Designer, Draughtsman’, Burlington Magazine 166 (2024), no. 1452, pp. 252-63