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The dissertation examines the life and work of G.B. and A. Salm, father and son. Their body of work embraces a wide diversity of architectural styles. Although they occupied a central position within the principal architecture associations at the time they do not seem to have taken a clear position in the polemics on style and material use that architects of the time were engaging in. Their buildings are at first sight difficult to place within the architectural history of the nineteenth century, as a result of which they are all too readily classed among the ‘eclectics’, the group of architects who presented a mixture of styles as a contemporary alternative to the perceived ‘impasse’ in architecture. The question that this dissertation addresses is whether this label is correct. Very little is known about the ideas that form the basis of the designs of this father and son. A further study and analysis of their ideas and their body of architectural work has therefore been carried out to determine the true place of both G.B. and A. Salm in the architecture of the nineteenth century. This study includes a review of the networks and clientele of both father and son.

Tussen hamer en aambeeld is a social economic study into several aspects of the goldsmiths profession in Friesland during the seventeenth century. The study, based on comprehensive research in archives, describes the influence of monetary laws, guilds and trade patterns on the lives and the works of the goldsmiths in Bolsward and Leeuwarden. During the Golden Age the craft was confronted with problems caused by the rigid monetary policy of the Frisian States. The Frisian goldsmiths became evermore depended on the import of silver from Amsterdam. The price of this silver rose while the selling price in Friesland remained fixed. In order to keep the profession exclusive the goldsmiths took protective measures and searched for creative solutions. Around 1672 many of the craftsmen were confronted with financial mishap. Some goldsmiths with a solid reputation, based on objects that survived the ages, set up a trade network with jewelers from Amsterdam. What are the consequences of this trade for the reputation of Frisian silver? The book contains biographies of the goldsmiths from Bolsward and new information about their marks.