The largest exhibit in the museum is the painting View of the Port of Dordrecht by Dirk Kuipers. It shows the port of Dordrecht and activities on the quay involving a ship that has just arrived. Officials from Convoy Tax & Licence Fees (the forerunner of Customs) are inspecting the cargo. The barrels probably contain wine that is being gauged. The antique measuring instruments depicted are also on display in the museum.
How big?
The dimensions of the painting are 150 cm x 280 cm.
Dordrecht native Dirk Kuipers painted this canvas around 1760. It is quite possible that the painting was originally made as a wallpaper for a wealthy merchant’s house. Such interior decoration was very fashionable in the 18th century – for those who could afford it. Wallpapers were set into wainscoting: wooden panels were placed underneath and the wallpaper reached up to the ceiling. It made it seem as if the painting was the actual view from the room.
In the 18th century, these types of optical illusion (known as trompe l’œil) were highly sought after. The wallpapers created a certain illusion in a room. Often, a painted floral arrangement or a mirror was placed above a fireplace to create the illusion of space. Another type of trompe l'œil was to have panels painted in grey tones placed above doors, which was meant to create the illusion of carved marble or gypsum plaster.
Several landscapes by Dirk Kuipers have survived. One example is a watercolour featuring various birds against a fantastical background that is in the Rijksmuseum collection.