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- Pieter Spiering van Silvercroon
- Also known as
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Pieter Spiering van Silvercroon
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primary name: Silfvercrona, Pieter Spiering
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other name: Silvercroon, Pieter Spiering van
- Details
- individual; collector; merchant/tradesman; Dutch; Male
- Life dates
- 1605 ca.-1652
- Biography
- Diplomat, art agent and collector; son of Francois Spiering (q.v.) who ran a successful family business manufacturing tapestries in Delft. He was in the Hague from 1637, where he met the Swedish art agent and cousin of Joachim Sandrart, Michel le Blon (q.v.); and became envoy to the Swedish court. Along with le Blon, he was adviser to queen Christina of Sweden in the formation of her collection. In 1650 he was in Stockholm, where queen Christina made him Lord High Treasurer; she had earlier endowed him with the fiefs of Norsholm and Silvercroon in Sweden. He died in the Hague in 1652. Spiering built up an important art collection which Sandrart knew well and mentioned on several occasions in his writings, especially the collection of Lucas van Leyden and Dürer drawings and prints. His substantial collection was bound in distinctive black pigskin albums and stamped in gold with the date 1637. Around twenty volumes have been traced so far. These include the collection of Dürer drawings and manuscripts (Sloane 5218 in P&D, Sloane 5228,5229,5230 and 5231 in Department of MSS, British Library) and two other albums (Sloane 5217 and 5219) bequeathed by Hans Sloane in 1753. They were transferred to the Department of Prints and Drawings from the Manuscripts Department in 1845. See J.G.van Gelder & I.Jost: 'Jan de Biscchop and his Icones & Paradigmata', Doornspijk 1985, pp.200-6.
- Bibliography
- Ilja Veldman, 'Portrait of an art collector, PSvS', Simiolus 38, no.4, 2015, pp.228-249.
