In the last message, I mentioned that it is still difficult to find out who is depicted in the portraits with limited information. There are some clues, but they do not yield results. For this reason, we took our courage in both hands and boldly sent a message to the CBG to see if they might be able to help solve the mystery.
Actually, contrary to expectations, we received a message from the CBG. The product manager CBG Family Coats of Arms sent a reply. My heart is beating a little faster with excitement. Is the mystery solved?
Dear Jeroen,
The coat of arms with the red fess and the mascles of the same is Southern Netherlandish. Of the Belgian noble family Van Delft to be precise. I cannot place the other coat of arms right away. It is possible to have further research done into which exact alliance it concerns.
Sincerely,
Guus …………… (omitted due to privacy)
This is great! The mystery is not completely solved yet, but there is progress in the case. I thank Mr. Guus very much for his selfless help. This is really nice!!
Quickly searching to see if there is more to be found about a noble Belgian family Van Delft. First, let's run a simple search query. I type in the following search terms: “Van Delft adel”. Results appear immediately:
This looks promising. The first line already matches Mr. Guus's message. Let's quickly see what else is written. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Delft
The Wikipedia page provides a clear overview of the history and genealogy of this Van Delft family. A whole bunch of names are listed. But who could it be? Behind every “Van Delft” is a birth and death date. This makes it a bit easier again. The painting is signed with a year included.
The year is 1890. A great many are already eliminated if we assume that the portrait subjects were still alive at the time the portraits were created. The following members of the family meet this assumption:
- Emile van Delft (1834-1917), married to Nelly Baré (1847-1904)
- Louis van Delft (1854-1926), married to Céline van Wickevoort Crommelin (1865-1936)
- Alphonse van Delft (1817-1894), m. Delia Guyot (1828-1898)
- Léon van Delft (1845-1926), m. Countess Clémence Le Grelle (1855-1932)
I hope we have taken the right path. We assume that it
Indeed it is about the Van Delft family. Just keep following this path now, though. How do we proceed now? Let's give this some thought.....
