Lot Essay
When, in 1785, the States of Holland curtailed his power as Commander of the garrison of 's-Gravenhage, stadholder Willem V Prince of Orange left the town in September of that year, not to return until the autumn of 1787. During his absence, on 10 November 1785, the Dutch Republic (which by that time was being governed by Anti-Orangist Patriots) drew up a defensive agreement with France. The inauguration of this Alliance was celebrated by Patriots with grand banquets, for instance in Amsterdam on 27 January 1786 and later on also in Utrecht and Rotterdam. At the Amsterdam banquet the centre-piece on the table was a large and ornate Temple of Concord
The stipple-engraved design on the present goblet appears to be an allegory on that Alliance and would therefore date from late 1785 or early 1786 when the goblet may have served to drink toasts from at a banquet. Palm-trees are symbolic of Victory and Peace and the two engraved ones would allegorise the concord between the Dutch Republic and France. The trees being atop a summit, there is no room for others; hence the unique concord would, as indicated in the inscription, be unconquerable or unsurpassable. The encircling "Hollandsche Tuin" or Dutch Fence is usually guarded from within by a rampant Dutch Lion and as such is an old symbol of the Republic denoting Security, Solidarity and State Protection. The two objects seen outside the fence perhaps represent a down-trodden orange and the hilt of a discarded sword and relate to the Prince's dismissal as military Commander. The inscription "Sic nisi Tecum" would refer to Prince Willem V, implying that 'Thus, without you, there will be an ideal concord with France'. The Alliance of 1785 lasted for only two years but was forcibly renewed, once again after the Prince had fled, in 1795 when the French occupied the Dutch Republic. That second Alliance has been portrayed, e.g., as the Dutch Maid shaking hands with a Frenchman, both standing within the Dutch Fence. It is possible, but less likely (Wolff stippled rather similar oval frames mainly in the 1780s) that the engraving relates to the 1795 Alliance which, however, gave little cause for celebration
We are grateful to Mr. F.G.A.M. Smit for providing this information
The stipple-engraved design on the present goblet appears to be an allegory on that Alliance and would therefore date from late 1785 or early 1786 when the goblet may have served to drink toasts from at a banquet. Palm-trees are symbolic of Victory and Peace and the two engraved ones would allegorise the concord between the Dutch Republic and France. The trees being atop a summit, there is no room for others; hence the unique concord would, as indicated in the inscription, be unconquerable or unsurpassable. The encircling "Hollandsche Tuin" or Dutch Fence is usually guarded from within by a rampant Dutch Lion and as such is an old symbol of the Republic denoting Security, Solidarity and State Protection. The two objects seen outside the fence perhaps represent a down-trodden orange and the hilt of a discarded sword and relate to the Prince's dismissal as military Commander. The inscription "Sic nisi Tecum" would refer to Prince Willem V, implying that 'Thus, without you, there will be an ideal concord with France'. The Alliance of 1785 lasted for only two years but was forcibly renewed, once again after the Prince had fled, in 1795 when the French occupied the Dutch Republic. That second Alliance has been portrayed, e.g., as the Dutch Maid shaking hands with a Frenchman, both standing within the Dutch Fence. It is possible, but less likely (Wolff stippled rather similar oval frames mainly in the 1780s) that the engraving relates to the 1795 Alliance which, however, gave little cause for celebration
We are grateful to Mr. F.G.A.M. Smit for providing this information