An important set of eighteen Paris porcelain plates commemorating the Kingdom of the Netherlands dated 1822

probably decorated in Brussels, each painted with a detailed map of a province, the titles and place names written in Dutch, and including the canals, rivers and other topographical details, the blue ground borders gilded with classical-style ornament and the coats of arms of the province depicted and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( chip to rim of one plate, some stacking wear, minor haircracks)

Almost certainly Willem I, King of the Netherlands (1772-1843) and Wilhelmina, Princess of Prussia (1774-1837), and thence by descent.

Condition report: Paris porcelain plates with maps of the Netherlands: There is stacking wear around the edge of the painted wells of nearly all the plates. This is more noticeable on those with features extending to the edges of the well, or when the wear occurs around the area with the cartouche inscribed with the province name. It affects the plates as follows: Ghent (Gend): the inscribed province name and edge of cartouche; also at 12 o' clock where the blue enamel is rubbed and the black line of the coast has wear at Vlissingen North Brabant: at 10 o' clock at Willenstad, on the banks of the nearby estuary and at 12 o' clock above Leerdam and at far right on the border at 3 o' clock. Benegouwen (Hainault): the oval cartouche with province name at 8-9 o' clock, especially the initials 'P' of 'Province' and 'B' of 'Benegouwen'. Also around the rim from 11-2 and at 5 o'clock. Holland: around 12-1 o' clock and a little at 7-8 o' clock Groningen: at 10 and between 2-3 o'clock. NB this plate also has a large shallow chip to the upper surface of the rim at 3 o' clock, approx 20mm long by 8 mm wide. Antwerp: at 11 and 3 o'clock. Also wear to initials of inscribed title within the cartouche at 9 o' clock. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: 1-2 and 7-9 o'clock, also very minor wear at 4-6 o' clock Limburg: the red line border is rubbed at 9 and 5 o'clock. NB this plate also has 2 fine cracks on the underside of the rim at approx. 9 o' clock, extending for 11mm and 8mm Drenthe: at 5 o'clock to the green enamelling, and at 7 and 2 o' clock. Liege (Luik): at 5 and 12-1 o' clock, also the inscribed title within the cartouche is a little rubbed Utrecht: from 1-5 o'clock, also to border of title cartouche at 9 o' clock Namen (Namur): at 1, 4 and 7 o'clock. NB this plate also has a fine crack 45mm in length to the reverse under the coat of arms at 12 o' clock it is just visible on close inspection from the front in the white area at the edge of the well South (Zuid) Brabant : at 6 o'clock and between 1-2 o' clock Overijssel: at 11-12 o'clock, 3 and 5-6 o'clock, and (very minor) between 7-8 o'clock East Flanders (Oost Vlaanderen): cartouche rim at 9 o'clock and 'Pr' of province, also (very minor) at 11-12, 3 and 6-7 o'clock Flanders: cartouche rim at 9-10 o'clock and 'Pro' of 'Province', also (very minor) at 3 and 7 o'clock Gelderland: very minor at 12-1 o'clock and 5 o'clock Zeeland: at 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and a little wear to the outline of the province at 9 o' clock Friesland: at 7-8 o'clock (lines indicating the sea area)
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This remarkable set of 18 plates shines a spotlight on each province of the Netherlands in turn, asserting the kingdom's new identity and boundaries under King Willem I (1772-1844).  The historical context underpins their significance as, when they were painted in 1822, this political reality was of quite recent date. Willem had returned home in 1813 and assumed his new title after 18 years of war and exile during the Napoleonic era.  The Treaty of Vienna ratified his kingdom which, for the first time, comprised the united Northern (Dutch) and Southern (Belgian) provinces of the Low Countries.  The new king took a particular interest in his country's economic development, and these plates are used as a canvas for detailed maps which vaunt his improvements to the canal and road networks.  The building schemes also provided mass employment at a time when large areas of the country's population suffered from extreme poverty.

In 1822, fine porcelain was once again being manufactured in Brussels, but only on a very small scale at the factory established by the accomplished porcelain painter, Frederic Faber.  The majority of porcelain sold in the Netherlands at the time, including these plates with their typical deep blue ground, was undoubtedly made in Paris.  An important Paris dessert service had been ordered by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands as a present for the king on the occasion of his birthday in 1820.  The service, signed by Faber's workshop, was decorated with topographical views of the kingdom within richly gilded borders.  300 plates from this service survive in The Hague today (see Cyp Quarles Van Ufford, Frederic Faber (1782-1844) Porcelaine Royale du Royaume Uni des Pays-Bas 1815-1830, pp 84-91, plates  63-67).  The present set of plates, also in Paris porcelain, does not appear to be decorated by Faber however, and was probably painted by an independent enameller (with the initials R.D. as each plate is signed) working in Brussels, copying contemporary maps.  The cartographic subject matter would have dovetailed neatly with the dessert service decorated with views, and it is not surprising they also originate from a royal Dutch collection.

A set of maps of the Netherlands' provinces was published in 1820 by the Parisian surveyor, geographer and mapmaker, Jean Baptiste de Bouge (1757-1833), also recorded at The Hague.  It is possible a Dutch version of the set was made soon afterwards and these were copied by the decorator in order to paint these plates.