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The Netherlands checks its Royal Collections in search of works of art of colonial origin

2022-12-29T05:09:55.775Z


The investigation is sponsored by the kings, Guillermo and Máxima, who support the return of pieces that belong to the House of Orange and were looted from Indonesia, Suriname or the territories in the Caribbean


The art from former colonies of the Netherlands, such as Suriname (in South America), Indonesia and what were the Netherlands Antilles (Caribbean) constitutes a heritage that totals some 450,000 pieces.

Kept for the most part in the Dutch national museums, it has a derivation in the Royal Collections of the house of Orange.

In his case, it is a private set made up mostly of what are considered gifts, but as many as 10,000 objects may have colonial ties.

At the request of the kings, Guillermo and Máxima, a team of experts set out to investigate the origin of these pieces and how they were assembled.

The royal couple does not want to have looted works that could have been obtained under threat, and they hope that the study will clear up doubts about the legality of their possession.

More information

The controversial Golden Carriage of the Orange accused of racism, out of circulation

Preserved in palaces and archives, the private collection of the Dutch royal family was formed at the end of the 19th century.

In it there are from paintings and manuscripts to ceramics or furniture.

Rudi Ekkart, art historian and expert on art looted by the Nazis, leads the independent commission in charge of reviewing it and points out that "the colonial section mainly includes gifts."

In a telephone conversation he adds: "We will have to distinguish between those that were done voluntarily and those that came under pressure."

The first thing the team will do about him is "trace his origin into the royal family's own archive."

“You have to know when and how they arrived, and who made them.

Perhaps we should consult the archives of Indonesia, Suriname and in the Caribbean [Aruba, Saint Martin, Curaçao, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba].

We do not believe that there are things from previous colonies,

like Brazil," he says.

They will also analyze the gifts sent by soldiers who participated in those wars and those sent by other European kingdoms.

The Dutch colonial period lasted between the 17th and 20th centuries, until the different processes of independence.

Brazil was also a colonial territory between 1630 and 1654.

Similar past of European monarchies

Most monarchies with a similar past have works of this kind in their collections, "for example, the British royal family," he adds.

“One only has to think of his old empire in India.

On the other hand, there are differences.

In Belgium, with territories in Africa, tremendous pressure was exerted on the Congo during the reign of Leopold II,” explains Ekkart.

Family ties or friendship between royalty also have repercussions in this context.

"We will look at the gifts made by European sovereigns that could come from their former colonies."

In the event that works are indicated for their return, "there will be support from kings Guillermo and Máxima."

Throughout the 19th century, a part of the gifts transported to the Netherlands from colonial territories were donated to museums by the first three kings of the Netherlands: William I, II and III.

They were on the throne, successively, between 1815 and 1890, and the works are kept in public centers, such as the Rijksmuseum or the National Museum of World Cultures (both in Amsterdam).

What will happen to these pieces?

"Although you have to collaborate with the museums, there the responsibility lies with them and with the Government, which has a report on the matter prepared by the Council for Culture," says the historian.

In its conclusions, this advisory body indicated in October 2020: "The return of the cultural heritage taken between the 18th century and 1975 must be done without conditions,

Although not part of the current study, there is a recognizable symbol of the House of Orange already set aside by the Dutch king.

It is the Golden Carriage, used to attend the opening of Parliament and in large ceremonies, and which remains out of service.

It was a gift from the city of Amsterdam to her great-grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, on the occasion of her coronation in 1898, but it has two problems: some drawings with a young white woman representing the Dutch nation receiving the "tribute from the colonies", and its wood covered with gold leaf mined in Suriname.

In January of this year, the sovereign renounced, for now, its use.

From the official point of view, the commission received by the Ekkart team comes from the Foundation of the Historical Collections of the House of Orange-Nassau (Shvon, in its Dutch acronym).

The investigation will last for at least a year and a half, and will coincide in time with another study commissioned this December by the Dutch sovereign.

He wants the role of his family in colonial history to be analyzed: the attitude and responsibility of his ancestors before a system that incorporated the slave trade, generating enormous wealth in the metropolis.

This work will last three years and will be carried out by the University of Leiden, an academic center that has the country's leading specialists in Dutch history.

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Source: elparis

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