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Maker(s):Unknown
Culture:Dutch
Title:Heraldic Panel of the Willet Family
Date Made:ca. 1700
Type:Stained Glass
Materials:uncolored glass, vitreous paint, silver stain
Place Made:Netherlands
Measurements:panel: 22 1/4 x 16 3/4 in.; 56.515 x 42.545 cm
Accession Number:  AC 2018.212
Credit Line:Gift of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
Museum Collection:  Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
41-170-14.jpg

Currently on view

Description:
This stained-glass panel features a coat of arms. The panel is divided into twelve square sections by black leading. At the top of the shield, there's a knight's silver helmet wearing a golden crown. A rooster is perched on the crown. It has a pointed tail like a devil and spreads its dragon-like wings. The shield is gold and white, horizontally striped with three thick black bands. A trio of silhouetted black, lion-like animal with their forepaw raised, stands on the top black line. Four swirling acanthus white leaves are on both sides of the shield, and two gold leaves are on the beneath. (Mone Kawano '25)

Heraldry: (Unidentified): Per fess argent in chief three lions statant erect sable in base fessy of six sable and argent; crest: on a ducal coronet a wyvern sable; mantling of the colors.

Inscription (lower margin of the helmet, in the center): C. [G.?] Y. [?] W. E. [partly legible]

Label Text:
Possibly originating from Rouen, France, members of the Willet family also settled in England, the Netherlands, and North America. This coat of arms belongs to the Dutch line of the family. One of its best-known representatives is the art collector Abraham Willet (1825–1888), whose mansion is now the Willet-Holthuysen Museum in Amsterdam. Like in this panel, his crest includes a wyvern (draconic beast with two legs, two wings, and a pointed tail) above a crowned helmet. Three thick black bands and three standing lions ornate the white shield below. Interestingly, this coat of arms is almost identical to that of Thomas Willett’s (ca. 1607–1674), the first mayor of New York, who was connected to the lineage of the Dutch Willets.

Maria Timina, 2025

Tags:
shape; symbolism; geometry; families; symmetry; decoration and ornament; windows; design

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2018.212

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

2 Related Media Items


Audio Description_EN (2018.212).mp3
Audio Description_EN (2018.212).mp3
41-170-14.jpg
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