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SUMPTUOUS SILKS - The prince’s apartment at Huis ten Bosch Palace
Sumptuous Silks
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The Prince’s Apartment at Huis ten Bosch Palace
BY INE CASTELIJNS
Soon after the thread of French revolutionary armies and their Dutch sympathizers had led stadtholder Prince William V and his family to flee to England in 1795, the Batavian Republic started to sell the contents of their beloved palaces. An important exception was made for the furniture of the “Chineese Kamers” at Huis ten Bosch Palace. The ensembles in these rooms was apparently deemed too important to part with, which is why we can still rejoice in their eighteenth-century splendour.
Part of the apartment of the stadtholder in his country residence just outside of the city of The Hague, these “Chineese Kamers” were decorated between 1767 and 1795. Their decoration and contents show a real appreciation for Asian art, exemplified by both authentic Chinese export items as well as European interpretations in the form of chinoiseries. Contemporary accounts remind us that these rooms were decorated with delicately crafted embroidered Chinese silks, which probably took one of the embroidery workshops in Guangzhou months to finish. The silk, most of which survives, albeit not all in situ, was applied in multiple ways. It was used to cover three suits of furniture and a pair of fire screens, for wall-hangings and for curtains with complementary valances.
As we can gather from a letter that Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia wrote to her daughter Louise on 22 July 1791, the silks were part of a gift also including porcelain and lacquerware. These objects were presented to the stadtholder by Ulrich Gualtherus Hemmingson, on his return from China. The amount of embroidered silk would allow for the decoration of two or three entire rooms. Wilhelmina, an avid painter and embroiderer whose apartment at the Binnenhof was also decorated with embroidery, was absolutely delighted by the gift and told her daughter she felt almost too ashamed to accept it: “Je trouve le présent réellement trop magnifique. J’ai presque honte de l’accepter.”
A Career-Trader and Businessman Who was this rather generous benefactor the princess wrote about? Hemmingson was born in 1741. His father, a member of the military, was employed by the governor in Batavia. These connections and his brother-in-law’s position as head of the trading post in Dejima, helped him climb the ranks of VOC employment; from secretary until he eventually became director of the Dutch trading post in Guangzhou in 1790 - the only Chinese port open to international trade. The question remains why he would return with such a lavish gift? Since private trade was often instrumental in complimenting a VOC employees’ salary, over the years, Hemmingson had likely established an important Dutch clientele for Chinese luxury items. Is it possible that he wanted to further emphasize his importance as a trader in this market and show that, even though he might no longer travel between the countries, his connections would still allow for superior products? Alternatively, he may have wanted to show his loyalty to the stadtholder in a time where the patriots were more and more actively opposing his rule.
It seems likely that Hemmingson knew about the stadtholders wish to redecorate his apartment. He may have received this information from his friend and amateur-sinologist Jean Theodore Royer, who stood in close contact with the prince and princess. According to the prince’s accounts from 1790, the local furniture maker Matthijs Horrix was asked to contribute to the decoration of the new Presence Chamber of the stadtholders’ apartment, which he fitted up with a wall paneling veneered with various woods, as well as lacquer panels. The same woods were used to veneer the corresponding tables and clock. After the silks had arrived in 1791, Horrix supplied two fire screens decorated with the same woods he used for the panelling and charged f 52.10 for “het maaken van 5 paar gevoerde gardijnen” for this room. These must refer to the fire screens (fig.1) and embroidered silk curtains we still see today. The curtains were moved to the adjoining Chinese Room in the 1950s.
A Harmonious Landscape with a Touch of Disarray The design of the curtains somewhat resembles that of the more well-known painted wallpaper that was specifically made in Guangzhou for the export market around that time. We see a suburban setting with pagodas, houses and people working and going about their daily routines, against a mountainous backdrop. Although many embroiderers likely contributed to its execution, the workshop probably had master designs they worked from. These designs were based on prints and illustrated treatises that circulated widely, some of which were even commissioned by the emperor himself in order to encourage a certain representation of Chinese society as productive, harmonious and content. This results in various compositions being used multiple times across the curtains and other silks, with minor changes to turn them into different scenes.
However, the curtains are by no means a repetitive and unoriginal product. They display a real amalgamation of scenes from everyday life that, when studied, reveal many interesting details. The intricate scene (fig 2), is made up of two houses. The house on the left accommodates five men, identifiable by their hairstyle, sitting around a table with piles of money and a pouch. These attributes indicate that money is being exchanged here. The fact that the building is made of brick suggests that a money exchange office was considered an important venue. This is also apparent from the contrast with the gambling house next to it. There is a lot going on in this second venue. Men are fighting, money has fallen to the floor and a chair has toppled over. The men seem to be gambling and since the man in the middle looks like he is holding a bowl, they may also be playing fan-tan: a game of chance in which several objects are hidden under a bowl with players having to guess how many. The house has been poorly maintained, as can be seen from the peeling paint that reveals the bamboo construction underneath. A lantern hangs from the ceiling, an important detail because gambling often took place in the evening or at night.
The delicate silk curtains were restored multiple times over the course of their existence. Their
fragility and sensitivity to light means they remain vulnerable. This may be why we know if no other surviving examples in Europe of embroidered Chinese silk of this period, on this scale. There is a pair of comparable yellow silk wall hangings in the Royal Collection Trust, which are said to have been gifted to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 1879 as a ‘Pair of Embroidered Curtains from the Emperor of China’. These are relatively small panels however, so in that sense the silks for Huis ten Bosch Palace are a seemingly unique survival. A group of experts on textiles and Asian art eventually decided that in order to safeguard them for future generations, it would be best not to use the curtains anymore. They will therefore be conserved and stored.
Ine Castelijns studied Fine and Decorative Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. She worked as a Junior Curator at the Rijksmuseum for two years, before moving back to London to work for the Royal Collection Trust. This incredible collection sparked her interest in Asian art, leading her to contribute entries on Japanese lacquer to the Japan: Courts and Culture catalogue. She now works as Head of Collections and Curator of Furniture for the Dutch Royal Household, where she is one of the project managers of the ‘curtain project’, creating new curtains for the Chinese Room at Huis ten Bosch Palace.
Creating New Cultural Heritage The windows of the Chinese Room have not been forgotten however; new curtains are being made. Since we felt it was important to incorporate embroidery in the new design, the Central Government Real Estate Agency and the Dutch Royal Household immediately turned to the TextielMuseum in Tilburg. Together with the museum, we looked for a designer who would be able to pay tribute to the historic curtains and help us create new cultural heritage, adding to the ensemble of the room. With Liesbeth Stinissen, we felt like we found someone who would be able to rise to this challenge. Her concept applauds the original design, but reinterprets it in a contemporary way.
Her plan was digitised at the TextielLab, so that their embroidery machine would be able to read and execute it. Details which were be made by hand, will enrich the overall motifs and are currently being added to the curtains. These intricate handmade flowers and birds were created by 16 embroidery groups from across the country, representing the love of the craft. Her Majesty Queen Máxima, an enthusiast just like Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, embroidered details for the curtains as well. Overall, a project to which many people contribute, resulting in wonderful exchanges of knowledge and personal stories.
The original as well as the new curtains will be on display at the exhibition Royal Embroidery – Stitches and Stories at the TextielMuseum from 1 December 2022 - 29 May 2023, before the new curtains will be incorporated into the interior if the Chinese Room at Huis ten Bosch Palace. ◆ textielmuseum.nl
SOURCES
• REINIER J. BAARSEN, ‘IN DE COMMODE VAN PARIJS TOT DEN HAAG’ MATTHIJS HORRIX (1735-1809),
EEN MEUBELMAKER IN DEN HAAG IN DE TWEEDE HELFT VAN DE ACHTTIENDE EEUW’,
OUD HOLLAND, VOL. 107, 1993, PP. 161-256 • EMILE DE BRUIJN, CHINESE WALLPAPERS IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND, LONDON, 2018 • M.A.P. MELLINK-ROELOFSZ, ‘ULRICH GUALTHERUS HEMMINGSON, V.O.C.-DIENAAR EN
VERBINDINGS SCHAKEL TUSSEN CHINA EN NEDERLAND’, NEDERLANDS KUNSTHISTORISCH
JAARBOEK, VOL. 31, 1980, PP. 456-474 • LOUTJE DEN TEX, ‘CHINESE VOC-TEXTIEL TOEGEPAST ALS ONDERDEEL VAN ACHTTIENDE-
EN NEGENTIENDE-EEUWSE INTERIEURS’, STICHTING TEXTIELCOMMISIE NEDERLAND JAARBOEK, 2008, PP. 62-68
