Home is where the heart(h) is 4d: the 2 princes finished and a third one as a bonus.

Hello my friends,

Last saturday I had another workshop painting miniature porcelain in the studio of Cocky Wildschut. That day I finished the tableaux of Prince Maurits and Prince Frederick. Two brothers who, (first Maurits and then Frederick) followed in the footsteps of their father, William I (a.k.a. William the Silent) as Stadhouder of the Dutch Republic. 

As you can see I only deepened some shadows and added some details by adding a layer of porcelain paint to some area's. For example in Maurits' case I added a layer of colour to the shadow part of the tablecloth and to his hair and beard. Plus some added shading here and there to accentuate the form of limbs, the ostrich plumes on the helmets and such.

 And, while I write this a few days later, I know that today the kiln is fired up to fire them and seal the paint within the glazing.

As you can imagine these did not take me an enitire day to do. So before lunch I had time to work on a new project. A small project in respect to the 104 tiles needed for both Maurits and Frederick. It is a plate decorated in free hand. Depicting William V, the last Stadhouder who fled the republic during the Batavian Revolution in 1795.

I have told you before that Since the founding of the republic there were two important factions in Dutch politics. Those that wanted the Prince of Orange as Stadhouder. They were called 'Orangisten' The title Stadhouder originates from the middle ages and was officialy something like the commander in chief, while the States General (parliament) had the last say in all affairs. Some Orangisted wanted the prince to be king but in name only. Orangists could belong to the nobility, who had ties with the court, right down the social ladder to the paupers in the slums. 

The other faction wanted the States General to have the last say in everything and really did not see the need for any prince of Orange to command the Republic's armies and meddle in the states affairs. They were called 'Staatsen'. They were predominantly wealthy regent oligarchy which rather ruled themselves free from the house of Orange.

I will not turn this into a history lesson.  The whole story fills several books. But through the 16th, 17th and 18th century one or the other faction would be dominant. In the second half of the 18th century a new faction was on the rise. Called 'patriots' not to be confused by the modern day meaning of the word. They embraced the ideals of enlightenment like democracy, human rights, sovereignty of the people, and disgusted by the (perceived) decadence of the circle of the court ánd the oligarchic regents. They came from the ranks we would call the (upper) middle classes, the wealthy regent families and the lower aristocracy. They wanted the old republic with autonomous provinces overturned peacefully and to found a centralised state with a constitution and all the works in its place. No House of Orange and no closed oligarchy which only looked at the interests of their own class. 

One of the ways in which Orangists would show their sympathies (since William III Stadhouder of Holland and king of England) was through creamware or porcelain depicting the then "ruling" prince and or orange trees. Often with acronyms on the front. 

Or with added verses and slogans.

This plate has the acronym "PVOR" meaning "Prins Van ORanje" or Prince of Orange. And "WdV" means "Willem de Vijfde" or William the 5th. This plate is my own design, based on two different pieces of which the plate above is one of them.

On a next workshop I may make a pendant for this plate with Princess Wilhelmine, the wife of Willem V. She never figures alone on a plate or vase, it is always the prince or the couple together, but having her facing him on her own plate could be a nice subject for a future plate. 

Lastly you can see a a porcelain jug. I decorated it with a dark carmine red. after firing it will need a little golden edge to finish it off. 

 

Well, that is it for now. Have a great day,

Huibrecht