Sparkling tiara's on Dutch stamps

Last night a grand state banquet was held in Buckingham Palace in honour of the state visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima to the United Kingdom. A historic state visit, since Willem-Alexander is the third (!) monarch of the Netherlands to visit the U.K. during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Whilst Brexit was certainly discussed, the king’s speeches to the U.K. parliament and Queen Elizabeth stayed both very diplomatic (as was expected) and amicable.  

In the months and weeks prior to the state visit, many royalty experts eagerly discussed the possibility of Queen Máxima wearing the so-called Stuart Tiara (and accompanying parure) which was last worn by Queen Juliana (reign: 1948-1980) in the 1970s. Her daughter queen Beatrix (reign 1980-2013) never seemed to have worn the set in public. She might have had her personal reasons not to wear it, but certainly its absolute stunning extravagance (see photo below) will not escape anybody's attention. 

The tiara itself is massive and was ordered by Queen Emma for her daughter Wilhelmina on the occasion of her inauguration in 1898. Its absolute piece de resistance is the fabulous Stuart Diamond which has been in possession of the Dutch royal family for centuries. Stadtholder-King William III of the Netherlands and England acquired this uncut diamond for his wife Mary in 1690 and in the same year an Amsterdam diamond cutter polished it into a heavy 39,75 carat gem.

NVPH 1407 - 1988 - 75c

Some people deem the tiara itself already over-the-top, let alone with the Stuart and the accompanying diamonds added! Queen Máxima however did not think it was too pompous and – to the absolute delight of many royalty fans and gemmaphiles – the Stuart sparkled on the queen’s head yesterday after decades in the Dutch royal vault.

Queen Máxima with the Stuart Diamond tiara in Buckingham Palace yesterday

This story inspired me to look at Dutch (colonial) stamps bearing engravings/photo’s of queen Wilhelmina and Juliana, as I knew some of them depicted tiara’s as well. Of course I wondered if the Stuart tiara was ever portrayed on a Dutch stamp… I soon found out though that it proved very hard to precisely determine the small and sometimes roughly engraved tiara’s. Moreover, it appeared to me that some tiara’s on these stamps seemed to have vanished altogether…or even never existed in the first place. Please read my report below. In this particular post I will pay attention to tiara’s on Dutch stamps only. Mu next post will discuss Dutch colonial stamps.

Inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina and subsequent 'Fur collar' series

NVPH 77 - 1899 - Queen Wilhelmina 1g

On the occasion of Wilhelmina’s inauguration in 1898 the P.T.T. issued a so-called inauguration stamp which is almost identical to the stamp above. This stamp though is part of the high value definitive ‘Wilhelmina Fur Collar' series which is considerably cheaper than the real inauguration stamp...and therefore saves me some money.

When we look closely we see that the young queen wears a tiara – but after an even closer inspection we observe that it is not the Stuart tiara, which was specifically made for her inauguration! A real shame she was not portrayed with the Stuart here. Instead she seems to wear the so-called Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara. This tiara was probably crafted in 1897 and – contrary to popular belief – has nothing to do with Sophie of Württemberg (first wife of king William III). Queen Beatrix was apparently quite fond of the piece but often wore it without the characteristic pearl ‘toppers’ – too preposterous to her likens I guess? Sometimes though, on very special occasions she did add the pearls, for example while she visited Queen Elizabeth in 1982 or on the eve of her abdication in 2013. The Württemberg tiara can be found on all other stamps of the ‘Fur Collar’ series of 1899-1921.

NVPH 71 - 1899 - Queen Wilhelmina 15c

Definitive series queen Wilhelmina 'Veth' 1924-1930  

NVPH 165 - 1926- Queen Wilhelmina 5g 

The first stamps of the next definitive series of queen Wilhelmina were issued in 1924 and they bear a handsome engraving of her with a different tiara. I’ve chosen the 5 guilder as example here, since it was printed in a larger size than the lower values. After searching a while through some online depots, I found the following two drafts of designer Jan Veth. 

2nd draft by Veth

1st draft by Veth

It strikes me that in the first draft he had drawn the Württemberg tiara, while in the second one he obviously opted for a different tiara. A problem remained though: I couldn’t find a single tiara belonging to the royal family with at least 9 pearls on one side. It seems to me Prof. Veth produced a brand new tiara out of his pencil…

1931 Photo Queen

NVPH 237 - 1931- Queen Wilhelmina 80c 

A special stamp appeared in 1931 with a photo of Queen Wilhelmina. A first, since the P.T.T. had never used photo’s on its stamps before. In 1933 the 80c value was issued. Because of the photo we do not have to be afraid some designer made up an artificial tiara (or do we?). Still, it was not easy to trace down this particular tiara as the photo quality isn’t spectacular and we only see Wilhelmina en profil . After comparing it to other stamps (especially colonial ones) and the 40^th anniversary of Wilhelmina’s reign stamp of 1938, I’m fairly convinced though that this is the so-called Wedding Gift Tiara. A Dutch jeweler crafted this now-lost voluminous diamond and sapphire tiara in 1900 on the occasion of Wilhelmina’s wedding to Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1901.

Juliana had dismantled this tiara – maybe because of its sheer size – and several new jewels were made out of it for her daughters.  

Crisis 1934

NVPH 265 - 1934- Queen Wilhelmina 5c

In 1934 the P.T.T. issued two charity stamps on behalf of the Dutch National Crisis Committee. The other stamp bears an image of princess Juliana – alas without a tiara! On the depicted stamp we observe a very regal queen Wilhelmina wearing a tiara, but we’re in for a second disappointment: this is also an imaginary fabrication of an artist (Fokko Mees). The photo upon which this engraving was based is the same one which was used for the 1931 stamp with the Wedding Gift Tiara (see below).

Fokko Mees did draw a more true to nature draft version though:

Ruby Jubilee 1938

In 1938 a series of stamps was issued in honour of queen Wilhelmina’s 40^th ‘ruby’ jubilee. A fine and detailed drawing by designer Pijke Koch can be found online. She does wear the Wedding Gift Tiara here again.    

NVPH 311 - 1938 - Queen Wilhelmina 5c

Drawing by Pijke Koch

1940-1947 definitive series Queen Wilhelmina 'Konijnenburg'

NVPH 332 - 1940 - Queen Wilhelmina 5c

Last but not least we have the so-called Konijnenburg definitive series, named after designer Willem van Konijnenburg. He produced plain but very elegant stamps but had the misfortune that his series was printed in the spring of 1940 and therefore saw only limited use during WWII. Even more unfortunate was that he died of flu in 1943 and therefore never enjoyed a liberated Holland again. His stamps though were granted a proper renaissance when they were reprinted after the war. The lower values were based upon a drawing of Konijnenburg, but the higher values (1,2½, 5 and 10 guilder) only appeared for the first time after the war. They differed from the lower values in size and were handsomely engraved by Sem Hartz. Luckily engraved portraits were not something of the past yet!

NVPH 349 - 1946 - Queen Wilhelmina 1g

If I'm not mistaken Queen Wilhelmina wears the so-called ruby Mellerio Tiara on these stamps. Especially the engraved version clearly shows us this particular tiara. I was grateful to find an original drawing of Van Konijnenburg and the photo upon which he modeled his stamp:

Queen Wilhelmina with Mellerio Tiara

Drawing by Willem van Konijnenburg - 1939

The Mellerio Parure is a set of jewels which the royal family owns since the late 1800s. William III asked the French jeweler Mellerio to craft a tiara, necklace, brooches and armbands for his second wife Queen Emma. He acquired it for a mere ƒ160,000 in 1889...

Queen Máxima with the Mellerio tiara

The Zuiderkogge in 1924

Hem to The Hague - 1924

In a previous post I already mentioned the increasing importance of agriculture for West Frisia during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although seed trade became a very lucrative business for many farmers and smart entrepreneurs, dairy trade did certainly not vanish altogether. On the contrary! West Frisian farmers were as adventurous as the seed traders and advertised their cows by promoting the excellent milk yield of their Dutch Friesian cattle. Farmers across the Atlantic payed staggering amounts for good quality West Frisian bulls, making some farmers fabulously rich during the 1880s.

This postcard travelled from Hem (literally meaning 'Him' in Dutch, which always causes ambiguity when referring to this place...) to The Hague in February 1924. Hem is a corruption of 'Heim' or 'Heem', which indicates a place where people live. Although farming was still the most important livelihood in Hem and neighboring village Venhuizen, here too the agricultural boom slowly transformed many meadows into ploughed fields during the early 20th century. Although this 'agricultural' revolution began later in Hem than some villages more to the north, in 1924 many green fields had become 'white' there as well, as the map below illustrates.

Map of the southeastern part of West Frisia

The interest in agriculture only grew by the introduction of so-called 'co-operative auctions' in the region. These joint ventures of local agriculturists increased the attractiveness and range of their products: many West Frisian products found their way to other provinces and even destinations in Germany and the U.K.!

The auctions halls were often located in proximity of water and rail. Since many agricultural products were transported to these auctions by schuiten (barges), these halls were designed in such a fashion that a barge could enter the building in order to let dealers inspect the crop. The photo below shows my great-grandfather (left) who was on the committee of Auction the Eendracht (concord) in Hoogkarspel. You could discern the 'gate' through which the barge entered the building. The man on the right - who stands on his barge, probably carried cauliflower by the looks of  it - offered him a cigar box.

Frans Brieffies (left) and agriculturist in auction house the Eendracht - Hoogkarspel

Back to the postcard. As you might have seen, this card was addressed to "Het Centraal Bureau van de Veilingen in Nederland - groep veilingsverenigingen". A mouthful, but roughly translated you will find out that this was the Central Office of Agricultural Trade in the Netherlands.

When we flip the card, we find the following message:

 ~

Hem, 23 Feb. 24

M.

Met deze bericht ik U dat 't omzetcijfer van de veiling 

"De Zuiderkogge'" over 1923 bedraagt ƒ226466. 

Hoogachtend,

~

In English:

~

Hem, 23 Feb. 1924,

Mr

Hereby I report to you that the sale figure of auction 

"De Zuiderkogge" over the year 1923 amounts to ƒ226.466.

Yours faithfully,

~

Big numbers for 1923! The Zuiderkogge auction was located near a new railway (see red arrow on the map), which was specifically built for the agricultural trade in this part of West Frisia. Alas, this railway was defeated by road transport in the early thirties and therefore was never really worth its investment. Although the Eendracht in neighboring Hoogkarspel usually expected to sell for ƒ600.000 annually, for a village which still largely relied on farming ƒ226.466 is a considerably profit.  

Typenrader postmark of Hem on Wilhelmina Fur Collar 7,5c stationery. It reads 23 II 24 2-3N, meaning the 23th of February 1924 between 2-3 afternoon. The abbreviation (Noord-Holl.) stands for the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. It was probably added to prevent any confusion about such a short name.   

  

Netherlands - Summer of 1981

Between 1935 and 2011 the Dutch postal service issued a set of charity stamps each summer for  'social and cultural purposes'. These stamps were sold at a premium over their actual postal value and feature a so-called 'surtax amount' (recognizable by a plus sign +)  From 1993 onwards the surtax amount was reserved for the Dutch National Foundation of the Elderly.

In 1980 Ger Dekkers was asked by the Dutch P.T.T. to design the 'Summer stamps' of 1981. His work was (and is still!) lauded for its clear landscape photography, ranging from realistic/true to nature photography to almost abstract photo-series of landscape elements. This last category let us experience landscape differently because of Dekkers' alienating fashion of capturing large scale agriculture, flood defenses and the famous Dutch polders. I have to admit that his 1981 stamps could be definitely labelled as 'alienating', since his photo's draw you into the stamp itself! The vanishing points in the photographs add greatly to this effect.

So - in my humble opinion - these stamps should be considered as one of the most successful stamp series in the Netherlands since WWII. Simple, plain,  sharp, very effective and even alienating. It's a pity they were not printed in a larger format, as they remain just to small to let an ordinary user of these stamps fully experience them.

Dyke - 55c  Domestic printer matter rate

Newly created land - 45c  Domestic postcard rate

Ploughed field - 65c Domestic letter rate up to 20 grams

Ploughed field - 60c Printed matter foreign standard rate   

    

A brave midwife? Rotterdam 1906 lettercard

Lettercard Geuzendam G9 (introduced on the 20th of July 1905) - Rotterdam 14 October 1906 

The lettercard above bears some wonderful postmarks, since the interval reads 12-2V. This interval is known as a 'Nachtuurkarakter' in Dutch (Nighttime Hour Character). Together with 2-6V these intervals were being introduced in the summer of 1905 to accommodate a new service by the Dutch railways which had started in April of that year. The Dutch Railways had introduced a special mail train on the section Amsterdam-Rotterdam to cope with the ever increasing postcard and letter volumes which were being sent late in the evenings and nights.

The Dutch Postal Service (P.T.T.) had used the 12-6V interval since decades, but felt obliged to further curb this rather 'broad' interval to 12-2V and 2-6V. Remember the V stands for 'Voor' in Dutch, which means 'before noon' in English. So 2-6V means between 2 and 6 a.m. Why the P.T.T. introduced these intervals is a bit of a mystery really. Maybe the board of directors thought people would accuse the Postal Service for possible delays if they wouldn't further define the interval. In this new situation the P.T.T. could make a better counterargument against an angry 'customer' when he would claim his letter took more than six hours to reach his address (yep, people did care for seriously speedy snail-mail in these days). The P.T.T. could point out the newly introduced interval and argue that the letter was only posted after 2 a.m. (in the case of a 2-6V) which meant it had only travelled for (e.g.) 4 hours instead of 6...

Still, I am not quite satisfied with this explanation, as the old interval (12-6V) wasn't discarded at all. On the contrary: these new Nighttime Hour Characters were only used very sparsely. Only Amsterdam 12-2V regularly occurs as departing cancellation. So the mystery remains... Apparently 'Nachtuurkarakters' were used in the Main Post offices of Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague, Delft, Schiedam, Rotterdam and Dordrecht. Apart from some Amsterdam and Rotterdam cases, the other intervals are rare and incredibly hard to find. Moreover, they always seem to appear on Postcards and never on letters or lettercards. To be frank, this Rotterdam 12-2V is the first time I've seen a 'Nachtuurkarakter' on a lettercard!

Rotterdam 12-2V on a Princess Wilhelmina lettercard

           

A plea for postponement of payment

As interesting as the postmarks is the message. It took me some time to unravel the mesmerizing (or illegible - whatever you like!-) handwriting. But in the end this laborious task might prove of great interest. Please read the text first!:

~

Rotterdam 13 ... 1906

Weledelgeb. Heer, 

Naar aanleiding der brief heb ik de eer U mede te deelen, dat 't mij, doordat ik ongeveer 10 dagen ongesteld geweest ben, onmogelijk was persoonlijk naar U te komen om over de zaak van Dr. Boks te spreken. U verlangt nu van mij dat ik na drie dagen 't gehele bedrag moet kunnen voldoen. Ik geef U echter beslist de verzekering dat voor mij, hoe gaarne ik ook 't wenste - 't eenmaal onmogelijk is. Er bestaat hier geen onwil maar onmacht. Ik hoop dan ook dat U met mij eenige consideratie zult willen gebruiken. Op 't einde der maand Dec. kan ik ƒ25,- betalen, en zal dan zorgen er over drie maanden - na Dec. - 't restant betaald wordt. Ik kan 't wel niet geloven dat U mij voor dit bedrag ongelukkig zult willen maken. Ik op ... uwer goed gunstig over zult willen beschikken en verblijf ik naar U bij voorbaat bijzonder dankzeggende. Hoogachtend W [of Uw?] Ledel. 

~

~

Dear Sir,

In reply to your letter I have the honour in letting you know, that I was unable to come over to you in person to discuss the case of Dr Boks because I was ill for for about 10 days. You now demand of me to pay the entire sum after three days. I can assure you though that that is simply impossible, however much I have wished it to be otherwise. It is a matter of impotence rather than obstinacy. Hence, I do hope that you are willing to show some consideration for me. At the end of December I could pay ƒ25, and I will see to the rest of it in three months. I could not even think of the possibility you want me to make unhappy for such an amount of money. I ... you will be benevolent regarding this and I remain you very much grateful in advance. Yours sincerely, W. [our Your?] Ledel      

~

After searching delpher.nl again for any traces of Mr Boks or the sender (I think it reads Ledel, but I am not sure), I am left with nothing. The addressees were distinguished Rotterdam lawyers back in 1906, but they do not have a clear link with Mr Boks or the sender when combing through all newspapers of 1906... 

To my great delight though there may exist a link between Mr Boks and this Ledel person. Dr. D. B. Boks was a Dutch surgeon specialized in gynecology and midwifery from 1902 onwards. According to his In Memoriam he opened his own clinic in Rotterdam in 1902.

D.B. Boks (1869-1937)

Mrs J.H. Ledel published an article in a Dutch magazine for midwifery in 1905. As a successful and professional midwife in Tilburg she complained about the unfair competition she had to endure from doctors which practiced midwifery as well. Doctors like Dr. Boks I assume... In short, she states that doctors often only ask ƒ7,50 for delivering a baby, whereas the official minimum tariff for delivering was ƒ10,- at the time. Mrs Ledel was quite understandably very angry about these unfair practices. She even claimed  that certain doctors would create an atmosphere of fear in order to exploit their position. For instance, she recalls a woman who complained to her that a doctor wouldn't visit her when she would become seriously ill because she favoured an ordinary midwife above a professional doctor to deliver her baby. Gloomy business which smells as cheap touting for patients. 

Only a month after the publication of her article the doctors replied in the November issue of the Dutch magazine: they were furious. Maybe more angry about her life (she lived together with a woman!) than the actual article. In the end an external committee of inquire had to be created to settle the argument. Ledel wanted a hearing, but alas she wasn't granted one. 

A great story and  a very interesting one with regard to feminism and fair relations between men and women. I am not convinced however that our lettercard has anything to do with it. I'm not even sure if Ledel is the sender, and there are more complications... First: the letter was postmarked in Rotterdam, whereas J.H. Ledel lived and worked in Tilburg. Second: why would she owe her lawyer anything? A vain attempt to charge against the doctors one year after her article - which she lost? Third: the person who wrote the letter should have gone to his/her lawyers to discuss the case of Dr. Boks. This implies that Mr. Boks started a lawsuit... 

Johanna Ledel and Florine Froch, her companion.

Questions, questions, and more questions: that's where we left with again. Where do I find the answers?  

Reverse of the lettercard with postman mark (first round (A)) and a somewhat redundant arrival postmark as it is (exactly) the same as the departure postmark!