Tobacco box

An oblong box with rounded ends. On the lid several episodes of the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus are depicted, the scenes divided by classical columns. To the right the sick Lazarus can be seen sitting in the street while the dogs lick his sores. In the center the rich man is at home, seated behind a banquet table. At the left the rich man is seen burning in hell and Lazarus has come to God's throne in heaven. The entire representation is framed by leaf scrolls which contain the first part of a rebus. The rebus can be interpreted as: Vat [barrel] den tijd [winged hourglass] en ... , or Take the time and ... (the rebus is completed on the underside).

The underside illustrates the parable of the Prodigal Son in several episodes, which are similarly divided by classical columns. At the right the son leaves his father's house. At the center in the background the son is tending the swine, and in the foreground he has returned to his father. In the left-hand scene the son embraces a semi-naked woman in the company of three musicians. Inscribed (in the center background): Ik wil opstan en tot mijn vader gaan (I will arise and go to my father) (Luke l5:18). The scenes are surrounded by leaf scrolls and the second part of the rebus: Leer [ladder] de wereld [globe] kenne ( ... get to know the world).

The front side is inscribed: Het lijkt wel aen den reijke vreck in zijn wel lustig leeven / Laaserus most neeme zijn vertreck zonder wat brood te geeven / Dat heeft de gierig heijt gedaan laaserus heeft gods troon ontfaan/ Maar den reijke vreck begraaven in de hel bij de helsche slaaven (It seems to the rich miser with his sumptuous life/ that Lazarus had to depart without giving him any bread / The avarice has caused this, Lazarus has received God's throne/but the rich miser is buried in hell with the infernal slaves). Inscribed on the back side is: Een reijke loose zoon was heulps en onbedaegt/ Zijn vaders erf en goet zoo schandig door gebraegt (A reckless son, lascivious and inconsiderate / ran disgracefully through his father's fortune). Both stories illustrated, those of Lazarus and of the Prodigal Son, treat the theme of charity.

Rims are lined and corded, edges are molded. The rounded ends are decorated with leaf scrolls.

A. O. van Kerkwijk, "Oude rabaksdoozen," Het huis oud en nieuw (1911) P: 154, fig. 4, mentions a similar inscription about the Prodigal Son.

The rebus occurs regularly on tobacco boxes. See Van der Linden, "Les boîtes en cuivres," p. 203.