Originally built to store artifacts and portray Golden Age architecture, the delightful Lambert van Meerten Museum remains a tribute to Dutch art and architecture.
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Nestled in a row of typical Dutch houses on the Oude Delft, the Lambert van Meerten Museum is a hidden treasure easily overlooked by passersby. The museum, one of the three main Delftware museums in the Netherlands, was built as a 19th century patrician’s mansion in 1892, and was extraordinary for its time, in that it had electricity, gas, running water, plumbing and a central heating system.
The mansion-museum has some features of the Jugendstil style, but was built in neo-Renaissance style, with the intention of resembling 17th century Dutch Golden Age architecture.
Lambert van Meerten, after whom the museum is named, was born in 1842 in Delft, the son of a wealthy industrialist. Although he followed in his father’s footsteps and became – together with his brother Volkert – director of the Gist- en Spiritusfabriek (Delft Distillery), his real love was collecting art and other historical objects. In his interest in collecting almost everything, Van Meerten was ahead of his time.
In addition to paintings and Delftware, Van Meerten also collected glass, furniture, woodwork, silver and old construction parts. In order to store his growing collection, Van Meerten built his mansion, Oud Holland, which is the present-day museum. In designing his home, Van Meerten was supported by his friends: Adolf Le Comte, a professor at the Polytechnische School (today TU Delft), who handled the landscaping and decoration, and by the architect Jan Schouten, who designed the house.
Bankrupt
“This museum is unique in that it was built for, but also with, Lambert van Meerten’s vast collection,” says Ronald Brouwer, museum information officer. “The door in the former music gallery is a door that comes from the Daetselaer House. Hugo Grotius, a founding father of international law, most probably walked through this door, as the Daetselaer House is where Hugo Grotius sought refuge after his famous escape in a book casket.”
From the beginning, Lambert van Meerten’s idea behind building Oud Holland was as a way of giving local architecture students, art lovers and others an impression of 17th century architecture. Van Meerten’s ultimate dream was to give his collection to the people of Delft by transforming his house into a museum. At this time, the first museums had yet to be built in Holland.
Van Meerten however almost didn’t live to see his dream fulfilled, because fire destroyed his distillery in 1901 and bankrupted the Van Meertens. With the sole objective of saving his house and collection from auction, his friends Le Comte and Schouten founded the ‘Huis Lambert van Meerten’ association. Just before the auctioning began, the association bought the house and many of its artifacts.
With only his clothes and bed as his own property, Van Meerten died in his house in 1904. In 1907, the association gave Oud Holland to the Dutch government. The house opened as a museum in 1909, with Le Comte as its first director. The tile collection, which the museum acquired in 1920 from Jan Schouten, forms the basis of the museum’s current collection.
Nestled in a row of typical Dutch houses on the Oude Delft, the Lambert van Meerten Museum is a hidden treasure easily overlooked by passersby. The museum, one of the three main Delftware museums in the Netherlands, was built as a 19th century patrician’s mansion in 1892, and was extraordinary for its time, in that it had electricity, gas, running water, plumbing and a central heating system.
The mansion-museum has some features of the Jugendstil style, but was built in neo-Renaissance style, with the intention of resembling 17th century Dutch Golden Age architecture.
Lambert van Meerten, after whom the museum is named, was born in 1842 in Delft, the son of a wealthy industrialist. Although he followed in his father’s footsteps and became – together with his brother Volkert – director of the Gist- en Spiritusfabriek (Delft Distillery), his real love was collecting art and other historical objects. In his interest in collecting almost everything, Van Meerten was ahead of his time.
In addition to paintings and Delftware, Van Meerten also collected glass, furniture, woodwork, silver and old construction parts. In order to store his growing collection, Van Meerten built his mansion, Oud Holland, which is the present-day museum. In designing his home, Van Meerten was supported by his friends: Adolf Le Comte, a professor at the Polytechnische School (today TU Delft), who handled the landscaping and decoration, and by the architect Jan Schouten, who designed the house.
Bankrupt
“This museum is unique in that it was built for, but also with, Lambert van Meerten’s vast collection,” says Ronald Brouwer, museum information officer. “The door in the former music gallery is a door that comes from the Daetselaer House. Hugo Grotius, a founding father of international law, most probably walked through this door, as the Daetselaer House is where Hugo Grotius sought refuge after his famous escape in a book casket.”
From the beginning, Lambert van Meerten’s idea behind building Oud Holland was as a way of giving local architecture students, art lovers and others an impression of 17th century architecture. Van Meerten’s ultimate dream was to give his collection to the people of Delft by transforming his house into a museum. At this time, the first museums had yet to be built in Holland.
Van Meerten however almost didn’t live to see his dream fulfilled, because fire destroyed his distillery in 1901 and bankrupted the Van Meertens. With the sole objective of saving his house and collection from auction, his friends Le Comte and Schouten founded the ‘Huis Lambert van Meerten’ association. Just before the auctioning began, the association bought the house and many of its artifacts.
With only his clothes and bed as his own property, Van Meerten died in his house in 1904. In 1907, the association gave Oud Holland to the Dutch government. The house opened as a museum in 1909, with Le Comte as its first director. The tile collection, which the museum acquired in 1920 from Jan Schouten, forms the basis of the museum’s current collection.
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