Two Boards for Pressing Biscuits, Cut by Hand
Two carved wooden panels, each with a figure sunk deep into the face. On the first, a man in a buttoned coat and knee breeches, the cloth worked all over in a fine cross-hatch, a soft cap on his head and something small held in his hand. On the second, a figure in a peaked cap with a rod over the shoulder, standing beside a stacked structure with leaves or flames rising out of the top. Both are carved in reverse and in intaglio, so the dough comes out of them raised.
These are speculaasplanken — Dutch speculaas boards. Speculaas is the thin, hard, deeply spiced biscuit the Netherlands bakes for Sinterklaas in early December, and the whole character of it comes from being pressed into a carved board: you push the dough hard into the recess, level the back, knock it out, and bake. No rolling pin, no cutter. The picture and the snap are the same operation.
The carving is genuinely hand-cut, and you can see it in the tool marks — the gouge tracks run in different directions across the flats, the cross-hatching on the coat is slightly irregular, and the depth changes as the carver worked. One board still carries its original gold label: ORIGINEEL HANDGESTOKEN. Dutch, and it means exactly what it looks like — original, hand-cut.
Both boards have a hanging hole drilled at the top, which tells you what they were made for. These were sold to be pressed and to be hung, and they've spent most of their life doing the second job.
Size: Each 9.25" tall × 7" wide × 1" thick. Netherlands, mid-20th century.
Hang them as a pair — that's how they read best, two figures facing into the space between them. On a kitchen wall, in a pantry, on either side of a doorway. Or stand them on a shelf leaning against the wall with the carved faces out, which lets the raking light do what it does to relief carving. And if you bake: chill the dough hard, dust the board with flour, press firmly, and knock it out onto the sheet. They still work.
Condition: Good vintage condition, sold as a pair. Warm mellow surface throughout with light handling wear. The first board shows a short split at the upper right corner and adhesive shadows on the reverse where a previous label sat. The second retains its original gold foil sticker, and shows a knot and a fine grain check on the back. Both hanging holes are clear and both boards are sound and flat. No woodworm, neither split runs into the carved face. The carving on both is crisp with no losses. Please study every photo closely; they're part of the description.
Handpicked as a pair because a single speculaas board is a nice thing on a wall and two facing each other is a decision. Carefully packed with love and sent on its way to you.
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