Figure 1.--Nothing is known about the sitter nor the painter here. We believe that this paiting dates to 1615. The boy in the painting is wearing a dark brown jerkin closed with a row of buttons in front. It has yokes/pauldrons and long sleeves with linen cuffs that are trimmed with lace. The same lace is used for trimming the elaborate turned-up linen collar. The boy with "colfstok" may be of some added interest to English and American readers as the medieval Dutch game of colf is said to be the forerunner of present-day golf.

We have noted some wonderful Dutch paintings, but some are unidentified. We do not know who the artist is nor wjo the subjects are. One notable image shows a boy with what looks like a early golf club.

Boy with Golf Club

Nothing is known about the sitter nor the painter here. The portrait is dated 1615. The boy in the painting is wearing a dark brown jerkin closed with a row of buttons in front. It has yokes/pauldrons and long sleeves with linen cuffs that are trimmed with lace. The same lace is used for trimming the elaborate turned-up linen collar. The boy wear a richly finished golden belt. His knee-breeches are of the same brown colour; the side seam is embellished with a row of golden buttons. He wears tight fitting stockings of reddish brown, and black shoes with a golden rosette on the insteps. His left hand is holding a black hat with a broad rim and yet another golden rosette. The boy with "colfstok" may be of some added interest to English and American readers as the medieval Dutch game of colf is said to be the forerunner of present-day golf. Information about this painting has been submitted by a Dutch reader in both Dutch and English.

Hugo de Grout (1583-1645)

We note another photograph of a boy with a golf club--Hugo de Groot. His looks are well known from childhood and adult portraits. His boyhood portrait are listed among a number of other boy-with-colfstick portraits from that period. In fact, his was the first one with that attribute. The original De Groot portrait has been lost but a 19th century copy survives. Hugo de Groot or Grotius was a theologian, classicist, historian, statesman, diplomat and jurist, best known abroad for pioneering international laws of war and issues of peace and justice. He was a child prodigy and perhaps worth a page in HBC’s history section.

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Created: September 8, 2003
Last updated: September 8, 2003