Book Title: Spiegel van het menselyk bedrijf : in kleuren vertoond met honderd verbeeldingen, van ambachten, konsten, hanteeringen en bedryven, met verzen / Jan en Kasper Luiken.

Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712

Image Title: The Potter: Carry in your earthly pot a more valuable treasure

Scripture Reference:

• Jeremiah 18 (further images / scripture text)

Description: Sitting on a bench, the potter turns a potter’s wheel with his bare foot to shape a large clay pot. In front of a fiery oven, a second potter works at a workbench under the watchful eye of a visitor. Finished pottery is displayed on the shelves. A man enters the workshop carrying a heavy load of raw clay in a basket. The Dutch artist and poet, Jan Luiken (1649-1712), was responsible for drawing this emblem and for creating the motto and poem that follow. Jan Luiken and/or his son Casper Luiken (1672-1708) were responsible for its etching. The attendant scripture text is Jeremiah 18:1-10. Motto: Carry in your earthly pot/ A more valuable treasure. Poem: The earthly pot, made from clay, /Goes hither and there, to give service, /Until it breaks into pieces: /Like the fragile human life, / An earthly pot, in the visible part, / It’s otherwise well, the breakage will be healed. (Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker).

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