Table16.1Financial Profile of the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis Inventories

TABLES

Table16.1Financial Profile of the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis Inventories

(asset and debt values in guilders)[1]

Panel a.

Males / Females / Total
Positive net worth—N / 109 / 143 / 252
Column percentage
Median net worth / 26.6%
69.4 guilders / 28.5%
77.8 guilders / 27.6%
76 guilders
Negative net worth—N / 251 / 276 / 527
Column percentage
Median net worth / 61.2%
-73.5 guilders / 55.0%
-42.7 guilders / 57.7%
-54 guilders
No valuation—N / 50 / 83 / 133
Column percentage
Median net worth / 12.2%
N/A / 16.5%
N/A / 14.6%
N/A

Panel b.

Males / Females / Total
Married—N / 181 / 97 / 278
Median assets
Median debts / 81.0
110.4 / 90.0
124.3 / 82.6
113.6
Widow(er)—N / 202 / 346 / 548
Median assets
Median debts / 49.5
93.6 / 31.0
54.5 / 34.3
66.8
Never Married—N / 28 / 59 / 87
Median assets
Median debts / 48.3
58.6 / 67.3
57.3 / 62.9
57.3
Source: GemeenteArchief Amsterdam, particulierarchief 367, oudarchief 652–88
Table16.2Characteristics of Native and Immigrant Households
(column shares in percentages and values in guilders)
Both A’dam / Both immigrant / Man A’dam / Wife A’dam / Unknown/NA / VOC/
seafarers / Hansa port origin
Column N / 394 / 53 / 74 / 128 / 264 / 32 / 34
Assets < 15 guilders / 33.8 / 18.9 / 16.2 / 22.7 / 24.9 / 37.5 / 23.5
15 – 200 guilders / 45.5 / 43.4 / 41.9 / 53.1 / 53.2 / 34.4 / 44.1
> 200 guilders / 19.8 / 37.7 / 41.9 / 24.2 / 21.9 / 28.1 / 32.4
Evidence of shop / 10.7 / 37.7 / 21.6 / 22.7 / 12.1 / 12.5 / 26.5
Number of rooms
1 / 62.6 / 40.6 / 51.0 / 59.7 / 57.7 / 69.2 / 59.1
2 / 17.2 / 25.0 / 20.4 / 10.4 / 11.7 / 7.7 / 13.6
3 / 3.0 / 12.5 / 12.2 / 7.8 / 7.2 / 7.7 / 13.6
4-12 / 7.2 / 21.9 / 14.3 / 13.0 / 9.9 / 2.1 / 13.6
Unknown / 10.1 / 0.0 / 2.0 / 9.1 / 13.5 / 15.4 / 0.0
Mean Assets / 180.3 / 407.6 / 282.8 / 213.6 / 232.1 / 193.8 / 183.6
Median Assets / 40.5 / 93.5 / 87.3 / 60.5 / 56.0 / 69.0 / 63.5
Mean Debts / 336.6 / 584.5 / 393.4 / 596.7 / 220.8 / 378.7 / 305.0
Median Debts / 71.8 / 193.3 / 108.5 / 103.3 / 67.7 / 62.4 / 136.2
Source: GemeenteArchief Amsterdam, particulierarchief 367, oudarchief 652–88
Table 16.3: Ownership Shares of Exotic (or imitative) Goods by Household Characteristics
% with
porcelain / % with tea&coffee / % with delftware / %with silk fabrics / % w/chintz fabrics / % w/cotton fabrics
Full data N=914 / 37.6 / 58.5 / 54.0 / 22.6 / 14.6 / 23.3
Wealth groups
Assets < 15 guil. N=250 / 4.8 / 8.0 / 12.5 / 0.0 / 0.4 / 2.8
15 – 200 guilders N=446 / 42.2 / 70.9 / 66.4 / 20.2 / 11.0 / 26.7
> 200 guilders N=216 / 65.6 / 90.8 / 76.2 / 53.2 / 38.1 / 39.9
VOC/seafarers
N=32 / 25.0 / 43.8 / 43.8 / 12.5 / 6.3 / 28.1
Hansa port origin*
N=34 / 44.1 / 67.7 / 55.9 / 17.7 / 8.8 / 26.5
Both A’dam N=394 / 38.3 / 30.9 / 53.1 / 18.0 / 13.4 / 20.8
Both Immigrant N=53 / 43.4 / 79.3 / 66.0 / 30.2 / 15.1 / 30.2
Man A’dam N=74 / 48.6 / 78.4 / 67.6 / 24.3 / 20.3 / 32.4
Wife A’dam N=128 / 39.1 / 64.1 / 61.7 / 23.4 / 16.4 / 28.9
Unknown/NA N=264 / 31.4 / 48.9 / 45.5 / 26.9 / 13.6 / 20.4

*Former Hansa towns from which individuals migrated: Bergen (2), Bremen (5), Copenhagen (2), Danzig (2), Emden (10), Gothenburg (2), Hamburg (4), Koburg (1), Koningsburg (1), Lubeck (1), Stettin (2), and Straalsond (1).

Table 16.4 Quantity of Porcelain and Coffee and Tea Goods
(as assessed for households with at least one of each item)
N of
households
w/porcelain / Mean
pieces of
porcelain / Median
pieces of
porcelain / N of
households
w/tea&coffee / Mean pieces of
tea&coffee / Median pieces of
tea&coffee
Full data set / 343 / 28.9 / 11 / 534 / 9.8 / 3
Wealth groups
Assets < 15 guil. / 12 / 2.1 / 2 / 20 / 1.2 / 1
15 – 200 guil. / 188 / 16.9 / 8 / 316 / 5.8 / 3
> 200 guilders / 143 / 47.0 / 23 / 198 / 17.0 / 6
VOC/seafarers / 8 / 14.8 / 2 / 14 / 5.2 / 3
Hansa port origin / 15 / 17.2 / 12 / 23 / 10.3 / 5
Both A’dam / 151 / 30.9 / 12 / 223 / 9.4 / 3
Both Immigrant / 23 / 17.3 / 12 / 42 / 7.2 / 4
Man A’dam / 36 / 17.3 / 9 / 58 / 5.9 / 2
Wife A’dam / 50 / 25.4 / 11 / 82 / 5.9 / 2
Unknown/not married / 83 / 35.6 / 10 / 129 / 11.7 / 3
Table 16.5 Asset Thresholds for Possession of Exotic (or imitative) Goods
(all asset values in guilders)
porcelain / tea&coffee / delftware / silk / chintz / cotton / *lakens
VOC/seafarers
lowest asset value
**density value / 29.0
29.0 / 29.0
29.0 / 7.0
7.0 / 313.2
313.2 / 107.5
only 2 total / 31.9
122.5 / 16.0
16.0
Hansa port origin
lowest asset value
density asset value / 26.7
122.5 / 14.5
14.5 / 13.0
13.0 / 64.5
154.0 / 273.8
only 3 total / 62.5
237.0 / 14.5
14.5
Both A’dam
lowest asset value
density asset value / 0.5
35.0 / 5.8
13.0 / 6.0
10.8 / 30.5
61.0 / 12.0
58.5 / 10.8
26.0 / 10.0
10.0
Both Immigrant
lowest asset value
density asset value / 26.7
88.0 / 9.5
9.5 / 14.5
14.5 / 60.1
232.8 / 69.5
352.2 / 31.5
31.5 / 14.5
14.5
Man A’dam
lowest asset value
density asset value / 14.5
120.0 / 14.0
22.0 / 13.0
13.0 / 107.5
257.5 / 95.0
243.0 / 14.5
32.0 / 13.0
13.0
Wife A’dam
lowest asset value
density asset value / 3.5
72.0 / 16.0
29.2 / 9.5
9.5 / 49.5
112.5 / 48.5
98.4 / 25.0
58.5 / 14.0
22.8

Notes:

* Lakens were the traditional woollen fabric characteristic of high quality, yet ordinary clothing for the Low Countries and the North German lands.

** The asset value at which ownership becomes ‘dense’ is measured separately for each item depending on the density of possession for that item in the total sample. For example, delftware is considered to have reached a density of ownership only when at least half of the households in the given sample possess at least one piece. By contrast, silk is considered to have achieved density when one-third of the households possess at least one item.

[1]Those with incomplete inventories are the so-called per memorie records. Typically, the family information, location of the residence, the date of the bookkeeper’s visit, and the signatures of the relevant surviving family members were still recorded in the usual fashion. What is missing is the list of household belongings (presumably there were none) and the debts remaining to be paid (presumably there were more than enough of these).