My ancestors home

Welkom to my Page,        

Just some information about myself

My name is Christopher, born in New Zealand but from Dutch descent. My dutch roots in Twente can be traced back to 1595, to an estate called "Het Smalenbroek". At one time succesful farmers whose descendants trailed to become influencial figures in Twente's society. One branch delivered the last company director and president of a world famous textile company "Royal van Heek & Co." (1858-1972), another the instigator of the first real textile workers union in the Netherlands (1893). Worlds apart but from the same lineage. At the moment I live in Enschede and work in a museum dedicated to the social-, natural- and cultural past of Twente, a former major textile centre of the world. Accordingly named "TwentseWelle" our renewed museum has only recently opened its doors in april 2008 after existing before as three seperate institutions. One of my tasks is to register objects we have received over the years but not had the time to describe in full. Also I tend to the textiel museum history and the museum archives. On the "excavation journeys" I try to place our objects in their correct context to the history. One of my special tasks has been to conserve and investigate an immense collection (10.000 +) of shipment samples, material-swatches, enormous swatch books, designs, etc etc, These samples go back to the early 1800's. It is through this and my own interest in the former shipping routes to the east from the V.O.C. and the N.H.M. (Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij) an institute set up by king Willem of Holland (the entrepeneur king) that I try to find out as much as possible over the social and economical history of trade from the east. Textile patterns were used in Japan to decorate their wares and consequently the decorations and designs on porcelain again were used in textile printing. The famous batiks of Indonesia, paisley wares of India and mille fleur chintz all lead to the textile designs and prints we take for granted. The famous costumes of Volendam with their patterned bodices originate for example from Indian sits (chintz in English). Although of course Europeans did send their own designs (i.e. deutsche blumen) to the east known now as chine-de-commande. 

Private Collection

In our museum we are trying to place Twente on the map again. Few people nowadays realise that the great banking institute of ABN-AMRO originated from the N.H.M. and the Twentsche Bank (set up by textile-related families). That there still is one of the original firms, Ten Cate (c.1762), in existence making a important technical materials and a major producer of artificial grass. That C&A originated from a family - the Brenninkmeijers - of door-to-door salesmen i.e.  peddlers: and many more.

So in a nutshell: I like to find out about everything to do with economics, trade and influences with the east. As a consequence and my own preference I collect and study mainly ceramics and porcelain, European and oriental. From time to time I will therefore sell some objects that I sadly have no room for or no longer need as I build up my collection.