№ 1386

Velvet bag with silver frame and hook. On hook a picture of stadholder Willem V, maker: Van Gelderen, Schoonhoven

The Netherlands known periods when some part of the people would fight tooth and nail for ‘our’ House of Orange/ kingdom. A red damask bag with a silver frame in the collection has a portrait of Stadtholder William V, prince of Orange (1748-1806) on its silver hook, dating from 1779, and commemorates a turbulent period in Dutch history. The bag must have belonged to a supporter of the Oranges. It calls to mind the last thirty years of the 18th century when the Orange supporters and patriots, who wanted a Dutch Republic to have a more democratic state system, stood against each other.
The Netherlands, 1773-1779