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Document Details : Title: François De Hondt (1786-1862) Subtitle: Een inkijk in het oeuvre en de nalatenschap van een Brugs graveur, edelsmid en oudheidkundige Author(s): GEUDENS, Laura Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 44 Date: 2022 Pages: 75-94 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.44.0.3291078 Abstract : François De Hondt was a nineteenth-century silversmith, historian, medallist, engraver and merchant in lace. He was born in 1786 in Bruges where he spent his entire life and career. From the age of twelve he took lessons at the Academy for Fine Arts in Bruges where Jean-Robert Calloigne taught him to model. He is also believed to have been apprenticed to an unknown silversmith named ‘Praet’ – presumably Franciscus Xaverius Praet (1772-1845) – and to Philippe Mijs (1759-1847). After his apprenticeship he established himself as an independent silversmith and engraver in a house named In de zilveren pollepel on Steenstraat. De Hondt won several prizes for his work. For example, in 1831 he produced a medal on the occasion of the inauguration of King Leopold I, which he was able to present to the king in person during the latter’s visit to Bruges. A year later he won a prize in Ghent with this medal. De Hondt was also a co-founder of the Société d’émulation pour l’histoire et les antiquités de Bruges et de la Flandre Occidentale, a board member of the Bruges Academy and a member of the ‘Engraving’ section of the Maatschappij der Schone Kunsten (Society of Fine Arts) in Ghent. In addition to the strong commitment that De Hondt showed to his métier, he also had a keen interest in history and archaeology, with a particular focus on the heritage of his native city. His research into the sculpted fireplace of the Brugse Vrije (the castellany of Bruges) pleased the French king Louis-Philippe, who thanked De Hondt with the gift of a painted Sèvres porcelain vase. His research, medals and silversmithing also earned him the title of knight in the Order of Leopold. His final and most personal achievement as a medalist is the self-portrait medal he made for each of his children. After De Hondt’s death on 18 May 1862 a large number of objects from his studio came into the possession of his son Lodewijk, and subsequently ended up in the collection of the Bruges Museums. The ensemble comprises medals, moulds, tools, paintings and some 690 drawings and sketches. On the basis of this collection it is possible to form a picture of De Hondt’s fields of interest. He created mainly religious silverware, which is also apparent in his drawings. Various studies have also been preserved, including portraits of canons Goethals and Van den Driessche. Remarkably less silverware by De Hondt is known than the number of drawings would suggest. Only 34 different pieces could be mentioned of which just a few can be linked with certainty to a drawing, viz. two flambeons from St Salvator’s Cathedral in Bruges, a chalice and ciborium from the church of St Nicholas in Westkapelle, a procession cross for the church of St Barbara in Maldegem, a chalice for the church of St Mildreda (Mildrith) in Izenberge, and various chandeliers for the St John’s Hospital in Bruges. |
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