Silver fuses the collections of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Tax and Customs Museum during Boijmans Next Door. Stunning silver goblets, tobacco boxes and salt cellars are being rehoused from the Museumpark to the Parklaan.
The combination of Dutch silverware and paintings in which these items are depicted makes the exhibition Forge Together: Masters in Silver into much more than the sum of its parts. From 16 March 2019 to 17 January 2021 visitors can admire silver showpieces and paintings by Dutch masters such as Jan Steen and Gerard Dou in the Tax and Customs Museum.
Between 1807 and 1987 the guarantor for gold and silver in the Netherlands was the Ministry of Finance. In addition to maker’s mark, city coats of arms and letters indicating the year of production, silver items were also stamped with tax marks. The assayers, who determined the quality of the silver, have literally left their mark on silver items in the collection of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. This process is also revealed in the exhibition, which includes objects used by the assayers, such as their punches.