GRILL, Anthonie - b. 1609 Augsburg, d. 1675 Sweden

German silversmith. Together with his brothers Andries and Johannes, Anthonie Grill moved to Amsterdam from Augsburg in the 1630s. Here he worked as a silversmith, becoming specialised in assaying over the years: testing the content of gold or silver. In 1651 he established a workshop for this purpose in a building on Looiersgracht. Two years later he concluded a contract for the extraction of gold and silver with his brother Andries in The Hague. However, major financial difficulties forced him to sell his property in 1661. Grill had already left Amsterdam by that time. He had moved to Sweden in 1659, where he remained until his death in 1675.

Cruet-stand

This set, consisting of a small cruet for oil, two shakers, probably for different kinds of pepper, and a small goblet for salt, is the earliest known form of a silver ensemble made in the Netherlands for secular use. (The original use of cruets was ecclesiastical for wine, oil and water.) It was executed by the German silversmith Anthonie Grill who settled in Amsterdam.