Rare Bible by Egidius Wientjes from Ootmarsum. (Item number 23-12-705)
The story of this Bible starts with Jelis Wientjes who became a master blacksmith in Groningen in 1795.
Later in life he called himself Egidius. That sounded more luxurious and was often the case at the time. A Latin name was then chosen. Around 1800 he moved to Ootmarsum in Twente. The Roman Catholic Wientjes lived in Ootmarsum in the Grotestraat, approximately near the current Van der Maas hotel. Between 1795 and 1800 he lived for a number of years in Neuenhuis in Germany.
It is special that this silversmith settled in Ootmarsum. The silver cities were in Friesland and of course Schoonhoven. There was plenty of production here. There was still one silversmith active in Ootmarsum at that time, but very little work remains from that time.
The Bible below from the Zilverwebsite.nl collection has been beautifully inspected on all corner pieces and both locks with W26. This was Wientjes's master mark. The Bible has double silver clasps and 8 corner pieces and is from the year: 1831
Such a Bible with so much silver decoration was a valuable and cherished possession and not accessible to everyone. It was an absolute eye-catcher when people walked to church on Sundays with the Bible under their arms. Social status was once again derived from the amount of silver on the Bible.
The surviving Bibles of the silversmith Wientjes can be counted on one hand and were all made in the period from 1818 to 1845.
Egidius Wientjes' successor was his son Sernardus Wientjes. He registered as a silversmith in Oortmarsum in 1820. He was very productive and many items from his hand (such as costume accessories, spoons and other cutlery, sewing utensils, etc.) have been preserved.
In 1859, the Wientjes silversmith's shop was taken over by Sernardus' widow. Finally, his son also practiced the trade. A good example of how the knowledge and skills of silversmithing were passed on from father to son.
